Sexy Jutsu
by She-bop
Summary: OC x Sasuke, Kakashi, Jairaiya, Kiba, primarily Gaara and probably others; a strange woman comes to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and disrupts several of the teams; rated M for various adult themes covered; straight and not exactly straight sex
1. Escort

Just a little diversion while i finish up Cravings....

* * *

"Our first mission without Sensai," Naruto marveled.

"It's very exciting," Sakura agreed.

"It's just an escort," Sauske remarked evenly, attempting to dampen their excitement.

"But without Sensai," Naruto continued to badger.

This sort of banter continued during the two days that it took them to get to the young woman they were to escort to their village. They picked her up on the third morning because the village she was staying at refused to open its gates while it was dark outside. They could have just snuck in but decided against it since the actual rating the mission was given not high enough to warrant that kind of approach.

"Are you Calixta?" Naruto asked when they met up her just on the inside of the city gate.

"I am. Is there something I can do for you? I'd love to help you but I'm waiting for someone and I can't miss them," she fretted.

"You're waiting for your escort to the Leaf Village," Naruto informed.

She looked startled. "How did you know that? Who are you?" she questioned.

"Relax," Sakura soothed. "We're the squad sent as your escort."

That calmed her down but only so much. "Where is your sensai?" she almost demanded.

"He's not here but don't worry, you're safe with us!" Naruto boasted.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable being taken care of by a little gang of teenagers," she told him curtly but then saw how offended all three of them were by that. "I'm sorry. That was probably offensive. I didn't mean it that way, I assure you. I'm confident in your abilities as ninja," she tried to ease.

"Then what's your problem?" Sauske asked, having to look up just a little to look her in the eye.

"How long did it take you to get here?" she asked suddenly.

"Two days. We got in last night but they wouldn't let us in," Sakura explained.

"Make it a day and a half and I'll go with you. Otherwise, come back with your sensai," she bargained.

"Fine," Naruto agreed for the group. It was possible if they really pushed themselves and only took short breaks to eat and take turns napping.

"Good. Now, I don't know if you were informed but I intend to relocate myself to your village long term so I'll need you to carry a few things for me," she motioned to a rather tall stack composed of large pieces of luggage. Two trunks, one oversize duffle bag, and one large camping backpack. She carried the last item and several other personal things, letting her escorts carry the rest. The boys took the trunks, leaving Sakura with the duffle.

"You sure got a lot of crap," Naruto complained.

"I don't really care what you think about how much stuff I have. If you cannot carry it, I can wait the extra few days for them to send someone who can," she told him challengingly.

They accepted the challenge and were off after eating a quick meal. In spite of their complaining, the three young ninja didn't seem to have much problem with the extra baggage and for a long time they simply moved in formation, not exchanging glances or words. Sauske and Naruto took the point positions while Sakura stayed back, leaving Calixta in the middle.

However, she still felt guilty about her prior rudeness and when they stopped to eat a quick snack and pee, she took the opportunity to speak to Sakura in private.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to imply that because you are young that you aren't capable ninja," she managed.

"That's not what it sounded like," Sakura replied quietly but reconsidered. "Thanks though. Really, I don't think I'm as upset about it as the guys. They get really bent out of shape when it comes to stuff like that," she continued.

"Oh, I see," they finished and cleaned up but just before they were within the earshot of the other two she stopped them. "Sakura-san, I want you to know that the reason I questioned your ages was because of my abilities, not yours," she tried again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the pink-haired girl tried to snap but the meekness in the older girl's tone made that difficult.

"There isn't time enough to explain. Just take my word for it," she replied and finished their walk toward the other two who were waiting and guarding the luggage.

None of them said anything of consequence until they were traveling again. This time, Sakura approached Calixta while the two young men were far enough ahead and too concerned with their own trivial competitions to notice them speaking.

"Did you really mean that?" Sakura began.

"Of course. It would be a stupid thing to lie about," she nearly laughed.

Sakura didn't really like being laughed at but took it in stride. "What kind of power do you have?" she couldn't help asking.

Calixta almost stopped for a moment, every part of her but her legs did. She had to take a moment to center herself as she eyed the girl, almost a young woman, carefully.

"Well? Are you going to tell me or just stare at me?" she nearly recoiled from the older girl.

"It is…not very useful," she shook her head and looked away. "If you're worried about someone coming after us because of me hiding something then you don't need to. It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Sakura pressed.

Calixta was just considering that she might open up to this nearly young woman because she would need a confidante in her new home anyway when Naruto yelled back, "Hey! What are you girls whispering about back there?" he playfully demanded.

The young woman gave her pink-haired companion an odd look and a wink before replying. "I was just asking Sakura-san here how much longer she thought you'd push through tonight, telling her that I was a little worried that if I asked you call it a night, no matter how late, that you'd mock me," she told him.

Sakura didn't correct her because although it wasn't true, it might as well have been.

"What did she say?" Sasuke turned to ask, locking his eyes on his teammate.

"Nothing yet. I've only just asked her," Calixta laughed.

That saved them from generating another lie but now Sakura was sort of put on the spot for the answer.

"You were talking for longer than that," Naruto pointed out.

"Well, I didn't just come right out and say that. It would be…impolite, not quality conversation," she covered.

The two boys rolled their eyes because they believed her based on their personal observations of how females communicated.

"So?" Calixta turned the question to the two standing ahead of them. "What's it gunna be? I don't want to be exhausted but I'd also rather you not tease me," she pointed out.

For some reason, they liked the idea that she would be vulnerable to their verbal attacks, however immature, and decided to let her off the hook. "Another couple hours maybe. Not long after dark 'cause that's when the weird stuff comes out," Naruto replied.

She nodded in approval and they continued.

"That was slick," Sakura commented quietly about an hour later.

"Excuse me?" Calixta blinked stupidly at her.

"That lie you told them earlier. I guess you really don't like your power," she almost sighed.

The older girl grew sad for a moment. "Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes it's not so bad. On the good days I don't realize it's there."

Sakura couldn't imagine having that kind of power. She desperately wanted to know what it was but the clues she had been given weren't very helpful and the young woman only seemed inclined to talk for short times and only in private.

Because they were making such good time, they were able to stop at a nice secluded little spot near a hot spring for the night.

"Oh, this is wonderful. I haven't been in hot spring in ages," Calixta marveled.

"Do you want to take a bath later?" Sakura proposed.

"That would be heavenly. I have the loveliest little soaps and things in one of my bags."

Sakura made a girly sound, "That sounds great!"

They received odd looks from Naruto and Sasuke for this exchange. Mostly, they were a little annoyed by the effeminate conversation. Though, something much deeper told them that the idea of the two females bathing together and sharing sweet smelling soaps was something to take notice of.

They each took on a duty in setting up the parameter, pitching tents, gathering wood, starting the fire, and making their dinner. Normally, they just had travel rations but Calixta had been planning to feed at least three adults and reasoned that she had enough to make herself and the three young ninja a sufficient dinner. Luckily, she had traveled with ninja before and knew that if she was going to feed them, she needed to make enough, which was a lot.

Calixta made their dinner while they did everything else because they wouldn't let her leave the designated camp area alone. This involved unpacking the food and cooking supplies, starting the fire once the wood was collected (which required only minimal hand gestures), and then actually putting together the meal. Needless to say, the three ninja were finished with their tasks before their food was finished.

"That smells amazing!" Naruto leaned over the large pot hanging over the fire.

She gave a little nod of recognition and continued her chopping. She almost couldn't bear to look at him or any of them really as they sat and watched her cook for them. "Isn't there…something you could do while you wait for this. I'm sorry it's taking so long."

"Don't apologize! You're making enough to probably satisfy both of these idiots. Take as long as you need!" Sakura laughed.

That eased her but only slightly so Sasuke, sensing her discomfort, stood. "I'm going to take a bath before dinner then," he told them, grabbed his bag, and headed in the direction of the hot spring.

"That sounds like a really good idea!" Naruto sprung up and started off after him.

Calixta breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone.

"Why do they make you so nervous?" Sakura asked when she started helping in the cooking chores, even if it was just a little taste here, some season there, mostly stirring.

Calixta laughed. "Can I ask you something first? Since you want to know so much about me," she tried.

"Sure. What is it?" Sakura felt as though, for the most part, she was an open book. Her life was such that she had few very dear secrets thus far. She knew that would change eventually if she kept on her path but she tried not to let that bother her.

"How old are you?" she didn't look up to ask.

"Fourteen."

"And the other two," she blushed at even mentioning them because her mind went straight to the image of them bathing together.

"Same, why?" she pressed.

"So you like boys, right? Or girls, or whatever, you know, you like other people more than just friends or family?" she stumbled over her words but her hands didn't falter as she thinly sliced the carrots.

"I like boys, yeah," Sakura faltered as well. "What's this got to do with-? Are you saying you like-?" she couldn't even finish her own sentences now.

"Please, keep your voice down," Calixta pleaded. "And your squadmates are…rather cute but that's not the point," she asserted.

"Then what?"

"My ability is…sexual," she admitted with a hard swallow. "That is why I was expecting at least one adult to escort me."

Sakura's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "S-S-What?" she almost yelled.

"Please," Calixta pleaded. "Don't yell." Then she sighed and slumped over her work. "I don't understand why they sent three people who are at the most sexually awkward stage there is to take me to your village!" she fretted quietly.

"Hey! Don't panic! Everything will be just fine. We'll be back in Leaf Village tomorrow night and then you can have all the adults you want. Our village is full of grown ups!" she tried to cheer her up.

Calixta looked up at the green eyes peering at her hopefully. "Yes, of course. I'll just look at it like a test, that's all. It won't take that long," she reasoned fitfully.

"And if either of those two knuckle heads gets outta line, I'll thump'em before you even know what happened!" she continued.

The older girl laughed. "You don't have to go that far. If anything does happen, I'm afraid it won't be their fault," she informed as she got back to finishing up.

"You mean…you can…?" Sakura trailed off, not exactly sure what word would be appropriate, or if she had the appropriate word, or even if she did, whether she would recognize it.

"Can is a very absolute word. Yes, I can. More accurately, I can't help it very much. Especially when it comes to keeping it up for very long," she sighed. "There, just a few minutes and it'll be ready serve."

"Perfect, those guys should be back soon anyway."

Calixta blushed at their mention again but only received an odd look from the younger girl. "Do you still want to bathe later?" she tried. She wanted a friend so badly that even a fourteen year old girl would do.

"Well, whatever it is that you can't help doesn't seem to do anything to me so I don't see why not," she smirked.

However, when they did return a few minutes later, they were wearing only their shorts and shoes, carrying the rest and bickering all the way.

"It's just idiotic to splash so much. What are you two years old?" The heard Sasuke scold as they approached.

"You're just too stuck up!" Naruto shot back.

While Sakura disguised her amusement with irritation, as she often did, Calixta averted her eyes and started getting their bowls ready. Though, she couldn't keep her eyes off them completely because she had to look at them to serve them and couldn't help stealing a glance at their bare chests and messy wet hair. Sure, they were fourteen but built much stronger than most of that age. It just made things worse.

The pink-haired girl wanted to say something about their shirtlessness but couldn't find a good way to so just tried to ignore it which the older girl seemed to appreciate.

"Okay, well, since we made dinner, you guys gotta clean up," Sakura told the two boys when the large pot was empty.

Of course, they complained, but when the girls went off to take their bath, returning only briefly with a large tub of water for washing, they complied.

"I don't know if I like this Calixta girl," Naruto complained as they cleaned.

"Hhhmph," Sasuke offered his usual reply before actually responded. "She is…different."

"Different isn't the beginning of it. There's something seriously weird about her," Naruto defended his point of view.

"Naruto, there is something seriously weird about you," Sasuke replied even though he agreed. However, he seemed to notice something in the older girl that his teammate didn't. He wondered if Sakura noticed it too and that was why they were spending so much time together but wasn't sure how to bring it up so decided to just keep an eye on them.

"Sakura-san," Calixta began as they started to disrobe and fold their clothes off to the side of the pool. "I'm glad we can talk like this…it's been a long time since I've had someone to talk to," she admitted.

"Because of your power?" she assumed.

The young woman nodded. "Sometimes, it has a strange effect over younger girls," she admitted. "Though, I'm happy to see that's not the case here."

"What kind of strange effect?"

"I don't think you have to worry about it. It only seems to happen to girls who either like other girls or don't know what they like yet even though they've started to have those kinds of feelings. It confuses them and makes them behave very strangely. You seem pretty set in that department," she almost chided but kept her voice playful.

"Oh, I see. And boys? They just…?"

"Well, not just," she managed. "It depends on how…tuned into that kind of thing they are."

"You mean if they're a pervert," Sakura bitterly teased.

"Only sometimes. Those who are attracted to females, which is usually males, are effected," she managed. "After that, it seems to just be a matter of degree."

"So what sort of effect are we talking about here?" she pressed.

Calixta frowned. "I'm only telling you this because I need someone to talk to that won't start acting all weird and I'll need to have my shit straight when I talk to whoever's there to receive me when I arrive." Then, she sighed. "It's…attraction basically," she shrugged. "They get attracted to me then I get attracted to them and things just kind of snowball from there and before we know what's happening-" she stopped herself short because she knew the girl bathing with her didn't require that level of detail.

"Wow…I didn't realize. Well, Naruto and Sasuke seem fine. They're still so oblivious to girls that it's gross," she complained. "I don't think you'll have to worry about them."

Calixta frowned. "I hope you're right. I can only feel it a little from them but I can't even tell who it is, if it's just one of them, so you're probably right," she reasoned.

They had fun after that swapping stories and cleaning up until Sakura realized what time it was. "Oh, damnit. I have next watch. We gotta get back to camp."

"You go ahead."

"You should come with me. We're not supposed to leave you alone," Sakura argued.

"Please? I just need a few minutes alone to collect my thoughts before going back to camp," she bargained.

Sakura didn't like that idea but she had the feeling it was the best she was going to get and she was already late.

"You're six minutes late for your watch," Sasuke pointed out when Sakura appeared. "And where's Calixta?" he asked when he didn't see the other girl.

"I know. We lost track of time and she wanted to stay behind. She said she'd be along in a few minutes and I was already late so I didn't want you to think anything happened," she explained.

The dark-haired boy frowned. "She's our mission and you left her alone?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I can go get her. I just wanted to check in with you because she was being so difficult."

"If she was being difficult, you should have been difficult back and simply dragged her out of the hot pool," he told her, only realizing after the words were spoken what an erotic image he'd created.

"Fine, I'll go get her," she offered.

"No way. You're on watch now," he knew how much she hated watch and tried to get out of it. "I'll do it. Besides, you obviously can't convince her. Even though she'll talk to you it doesn't appear she'll listen to you," he added as he walked away.

Sakura stood helplessly next to the fire as she watched her teammate disappear into the bushes between their camp and the hot spring.

"Calixta," he called from behind a tall bush when he heard her splashing in the water.

"Hello?" she started. "Who's there?"

"It's Sasuke. You have to come back to camp. Come on," he tried.

"How do I know it's Sasuke if I can't see you?" she haughtily argued.

"Get out of the water and get dressed!" he ordered sternly because the urge to peek at her was almost overwhelming.

"I'm not doing anything for a disembodied voice!" she argued back because she had been deceived by such devices in the past.

He gave a sigh and, putting his hand over his eyes, he emerged. "There! It's me! Are you happy? Now let's go!"

"Why are you hiding your eyes? Do you find me that revolting?" she accused while mentally scolding herself.

"I'm being polite," he told her.

She sighed, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, you are, what?-fourteen?" she started to get out. She knew she was baiting him but she couldn't help it.

"Aren't most fourteen year olds where you come from this polite?" he would have sneered if he could have.

"Not all of them, but enough. No, I was referring to putting manners above your mission. Had you approached me unflinchingly, I would have thought nothing of it and assumed you were very duty-minded. But now…I know you have other things that might be on your mind, which is common of boys your age," she told him.

He was so mad that he had to take his hand away if only to glare at her. Unfortunately, she had just finished drying off and had only managed to put her underwear back on. His face turned a lovely shade of pink as his angry gaze fixed on her.

"See? That's not so bad. You might want to consider exposing yourself to this kind of thing in the future so that it doesn't effect you so much," she teased.

Did she just tell him to start looking at more naked women? He blinked stupidly at her for a moment before replying. "Get dressed, damn it!" he nearly yelled at her.

She laughed. "And I refuse?"

"Why are you being so difficult?" he demanded.

"All things act according to their nature," she told him as though it was her mantra.

They made intense eye contact for a moment before either spoke again.

"Why do I feel so strange? What are you doing?" he nearly growled the questions as he took a step back.

She made a little sound of pity and started to dress. "I'm sorry. I don't want to damage you," she sigh.

However, Sasuke felt anything but damaged by the strange feelings he felt she was giving him. Actually, they felt kind of good and they made him want to act without thinking, and that made him very uncomfortable. "You can't damage me," was his reply.

She gave a half-nod and was dressed. "Help me carry these things back to camp?" she asked carefully.

He made his usually non-committal grunting sound and obliged.

When they emerged, Sakura saw them carrying their things and breathed a sigh of relief that it had only been a matter of minutes. Though, she did find the pair's slight blush a little disconcerting.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura asked as Calixta started to slip into her tent.

"Oh yes, just fine. Why?" she asked.

"Because…well…" she wasn't sure how to say it.

She didn't have to, it dawned on the young woman first. "You fancy Sasuke, don't you?"

Sakura blushed. "What? This isn't about me," she stammered.

"Sssh. It's okay. Nothing happened. He was a gentleman," she assured.

Sakura felt less than assured.

"Though…" she stopped herself.

"Though, what?" the pink-haired girl demanded in an urgent whisper.

"I told you that I can't really control my chakra. That's true, but I can do one thing. I can focus it. If I don't have anyone to focus on for long enough, I start to get a little crazy," she understated.

"What are you saying?"

"That if I have to, I'm going to focus my energy on Sasuke because he is the most responsive to me," she informed.

"What? That's absurd!"

"Please," she sighed. "If you're really that attached to him and it will upset you that much, I could try Naruto because you've been so kind to me…but I'm afraid that won't work very well."

"What could happen if it doesn't work?" Sakura nearly held her breath.

"Then…well, at the very least, Sasuke will still make himself involved," she told her.

"Fine. Do whatever you have to. It's only for another day anyway," Sakura snapped and then went back to her post.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke scoffed.

"None of your business!" Sakura snapped.

With that, Sasuke also retired for the evening, leaving his pink-haired teammate with her thoughts and the fire.

However, his dreams were invaded by visions of Calixta in various stages of undress. It made it very difficult to sleep and more often than not, he found himself absent mindedly using his jutsu powers to catch glimpses of her in her tent. It did little to ease him but the more he tried to stop, the greater his urges became. Before he even realized what he was doing, he was sneaking past Naruto as he stood watch and into her tent.

She was sound asleep and hardly stirred when he entered. It made him scoff because if anyone entered his tent like that, they would probably be attacked even before he was awake. So, he placed his hands on either side of her sleeping head and straddled her covered body.

She stirred a little but didn't wake.

"Calixta," he said quietly, just above whispering.

She started at the sound of his voice and her eyes shot open only to blink erratically up at him through the darkness. She gasped at the sight of his face only a foot from hers.

"Don't scream or I'll have to touch you," he threatened to cover her mouth.

She took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

"Why do I feel so strange?" he asked her again, this time much more demanding.

"I'm sorry," she barely said. "I…can't help it."

"What?" he demanded, angry that she had played so coy with him earlier only to find out that his hunch was correct.

"It's the reason I was expecting at least one adult escort for this trip. As it turns out, you're the most sexually mature in your little squad…well and you like females…" she added almost offhandedly.

"You're joking!" he wanted to slap her. "Why are you doing this to me?" he demanded in a voice that was dark because of his need to keep it hushed.

"I told you. I can't help it. It's why I'm going to your village. I was led to believe that there are people there who can help me," she continued in her quiet tone.

"Well, stop it!" he nearly yelled.

"Little blonde might be dense, but he's got pretty good ears. If you don't want him in on this, you gotta keep your voice down."

He glared downward at her so intensely that his eyes transformed to utilize his Sharingan. She gasped again, this time a little quieter.

"And I can't stop it…or else I would," she told him flatly. "It's not like I want you to feel that way."

He scoffed. "You've got to be able to do better than that."

"Look, if the other two were at all receptive to me, things would be a little more even and less…interesting," she dryly managed. "However, they are not, which leaves it all to you. I'm sorry."

"Then why spend all that time with Sakura?" he asked accusingly.

"Because she was curious about me but not like how you feel. I was avoiding you guys," she told him frankly, "I was hoping to post-pone the inevitable until we got to the village, or at least close enough to find a distraction so it wouldn't have to be you."

"Unbelievable," he sighed and let his head fall forward in exasperation.

When he did that, his hair feel forward and tickled her face, causing her to giggle lightly.

Worried that outburst would draw unwanted attention, he did as he threatened earlier and clasped his hand over her mouth. She flinched but didn't fight him. Rather, she looked down at his hand through half-lidded eyed, and softly kissed the palm of his hand.

With that, something inside him snapped and he removed his hand to put his lips on hers instead. It was the most delightful but sensually intoxicating feeling he'd ever felt, which didn't take much due to his inexperience. When their lips finally parted and their tongues danced together, she reached up to touch his strong arms.

During this, Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on her, only stopping to occasionally blink. When he finally pulled away they were both panting lightly. "It is you…" he muttered.

"Yes," she replied simply.

"And you really can't control it at all, can you?" he continued, his tone condescending.

"Apparently not for as long as I estimated, that's for sure," she shuddered at the feeling of his breath on her neck.

"You are weak," he told her.

"I know…" she told him through gritted teeth. "But to be fair, you strength has been honed throughout your life. This only came to me in the last few years and has only gotten this bad in the last year or so."

"And you were the one to scoff at our youth," he reminded bitterly.

"I should be used to such ironies by now," she grumbled. "So," she abruptly prompted.

"So what?" he shot back.

She sighed. "So what are you going to do?"

"You're asking me?" He felt that was unfair because his judgment felt impaired.

"You're in the superior position for this mission, aren't you?" she haughtily replied.

He gave her a brief look of disgust. "So, had there been an 'adult' here with us, what would you have done?"

She gave him an odd look. "Camped as far away from the three of you as we could," she tried not to laugh too loud.

"I see," his eyes narrowed and he kissed her again. "So," he broke away again, "What if I just stepped into that role? You said yourself that I'm the most qualified here."

"Then your squad-mates will have to listen to us and if one of them doesn't interrupt, I'd be very surprised."

"Listen to us…what?" he baited.

She didn't answer that. "I don't want to be a cocktease so make up your mind," she sternly told him.

The sudden change in her voice took Sasuke off guard for a moment. He pursed his lips. "You'll really let me, won't you? You want me to." he accused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"You're desperate. You'll take whatever you can get. It's too bad Kakashi-sensai didn't come on this mission."

"I have standards, thank you very much, and if you were as innocent as your two little friends, this would be a non-issue. You wouldn't be attracted to me so that I'm attracted to you. Hell, if you were all about two or three years younger, this wouldn't be a problem at all."

"You're blaming me for this?"

She shook her head in exasperation. "Times up. Get out," she told him, using the grip on his arms to push him away.

He was reluctant. So much of him wanted to lay down on top of her and make her moan for him but he withdrew as much as she made him.

"Don't worry. As long as no one else says anything, I won't mention this, okay?" she bargained.

"Fine…" he disappeared a moment later only to masturbate in his tent and get almost no sleep.

Sasuke was the first to emerge from his tent in the morning but quickly left camp to check the parmeter and scout ahead. Naruto thought his teammate was acting a little strangely, but not that much more than usual so he just let it go.

He went straight for a cold stream up the hill from the hot spring and splashed his face. It was so cold that it made goosebumps on his skin and he breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't stop asking himself, "Why me?!", but he knew the answer and was disgusted to find that he was oddly pleased. Between himself and his other male squadmate, he was the more mature. He already knew that. And the fact that Sakura was apparently not attracted to the young woman wasn't a surprise either. That left him.

She was so strange. When it seemed like things were calm, she appeared nervous, or at least apprehensive. However, when he thought she should be agitated, like when he interrupted her bath or woke her so rudely in the middle of the night, she gave a slight air of cool confidence.

He tried to stop himself but the more he thought about her, tried to analyze her, the more aroused he became. It didn't take long for him to realize that was part of the function of whatever she was doing to him. What angered him the most was that she couldn't control what she was doing. Had she been doing it on purpose, he could just slap her and tell her to stop. Even if she was in their charge, if she was "attacking" one of them, they had a right to assert themselves.

This was different. If she had no control, then the chances of him being able to make her stop were much slimmer. It quickly became obvious that he was just going to have to grit his teeth and bear it. With that, he decided to finish what he set out to do and return to camp. He hardly ate the breakfast she made for them, which was fine because Naruto volunteered to help cook and had eaten a fair portion of the meal during the process.

They kept the same formation as the day before allowing Sakura and Calixta to chit chat a little here and there as they traveled.

"How'd you sleep?" Sakura asked carefully.

"Reasonably well…" Calixta replied but when she saw the apprehensive look on the younger girl's face she continued. "There was one little interruption."

"I knew it. I thought I heard something," she mentally scolded herself for doubting her ears.

"Thank you for not interfering."

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing of consequence. He just wanted to know why he felt the way he did. I explained it as best I could and he left."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

What Calixta didn't add to that but she was thinking was, "As long as we get into the village tonight like you said."

However, nature had other plans, as it often does. It started to rain, which wasn't that bad, until it turned into a torrential downpour, which was also negotiable. But when it turned to hail, Calixta said something.

"Sakura-san, this is almost unbearable. I can't even see where we're going anymore," she told her young friend.

"You're right. We should probably stop for a while." She hurried up to the others and told them the same thing.

Of course, they argued, Sasuke more than Naruto for obvious reasons. "Just until the hail clears. We're hardly making any progress as it is and if she catches a cold before we get back, we'll probably get a bad mark," she reasoned.

A few minutes later, they were setting down their things in a rather large cave about a kilometer away.

"Thank you so much for stopping," she told them as they started the fire. "I'm just about soaked through to the bone," she laughed a little and picked at her wet clothes as they clung to her body.

The two boys stared foolishly at her as she pealed off her outer layers to set near the fire to dry and Sakura breathed a sigh of disgust at them.

"It doesn't look like it's letting up," Sakura complained after an hour.

"No kidding. It looks like we might have to spend the night here!" Naruto awed at the way the hail started to coat the ground with white

Sasuke, who would have normally abstained from that exchange, gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. "I'm going to check out the rest of this cave, make sure we're alone here. The last thing we need is someone ambushing us from inside." He didn't wait for a reply, simply stood and left.

Calixta frowned at his departure but knew it was for the better and helped the other two get set up to spend the night.

When Sakura started to help with dinner again, Naruto piped in. "Hey, isn't it Sasuke's turn to help you with that?"

She made a quick glance at the dark-haired boy pointedly ignoring her. "That's alright. Sakura-san, you don't mind, right?"

"Not at all. It's not like we have anything else to do while we wait for the weather," she shrugged.

"But that's not really fair to let him get out of it," the blonde boy complained childishly.

Calixta gave him an affectionate little smile that made his heart flutter. "It's fine. Sasuke doesn't really have a knack for cooking anyway. As long as he doesn't mind cleaning up, everything's fair," she told him.

Naruto blushed a little and walked away. "Okay, sure."

"How do you know Sasuke sucks at cooking?" Sakura playfully snapped.

"I don't," Calixta shrugged.

"Then you're doing it again, this time to Naruto," she accused.

"I'm sorry it bothers you so much," she apologized, "but I've learned to use it to my advantage when I can since that doesn't happen very often."

Sakura shrugged and left it at that.

They ate and bedded a short while later, hoping to get some rest before finishing their travels.

Sasuke took the first watch, since he knew he'd have a hard time getting to sleep again anyway and this time, since they weren't using tents, he would have no privacy. For a long time, he couldn't help staring at her but eventually, he tore his eyes away and tried to fully focus on the task at hand.

But, as soon as he tried to stop paying attention to her, she stirred. He didn't look, even though he desperately wanted to, until he heard her slip out of her sleeping bag and stand up.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked after her first couple of steps into the cave.

"I need a few minutes alone," she told him quietly so as not to wake the others.

"You can't go off by yourself. If you have to pee or something, I'll wake up Sakura for you," he bluntly offered.

"It's not that," she told him awkwardly. "I just need to be by myself for a little while. I don't think I should have to tell you why," since he already had a pretty good idea.

His frown deepened and before he could formulate his next reply, she started walking away from him again. "Stop!" he told her in an authoritative but hushed voice.

She didn't listen. She just kept walking deeper into the cave and further from her escort party. Sasuke had scouted the underground passages for quite some time and she heard him report to the others that aside from average cave life, there was nothing to worry about.

"Why won't you listen to me?" he demanded as he stepped in front of her.

She shook her head in exasperation and gave him a little smile that told him that she was as endeared by him as she was frustrated with him. "Because, my dear boy, you are extremely distracted by me so I'm doing everyone a favor by giving you a break. Don't worry, it'll be a short break. It smelled like the weather was going to let up pretty soon and we can get going again."

He seethed at being called, 'her dear boy'. "It's not my fault you're so distracting," he told her.

"And it's not my fault that you find me attractive…for whatever reason but I thought were over the whole blame thing. It's really pointless you know," she advised distractedly as she tried and failed to side-step them.

He came dangerously close to slapping her again but held back only by clenching his fists at his sides.

Calixta gave a backward glance at the two forms sleeping by the fire. "If you think they'd be okay, you could come with me," she offered.

The look that earned her was both audacious and intrigued but then he remembered what she said the night before about the capacity for duty outweighing everything else. He looked over at the other two laying by the fire. One of them was obviously asleep; Naruto was snoring. The other looked less sleepy than when he'd stood up; Sakura had been listening to them but only the shock of the Calixta's proposition made her turn to look at them.

"It's my watch. I'm not going anywhere…and neither are you," he told her with renewed authority.

It was strange, Sakura knew what her crush really wanted to do, or at least what he was being driven toward. She felt an odd mix of pride and guilt. Pride, from his perseverance; guilt, from the look of anguish on his features as he started back to his seat.

"S-Sasuke…" Sakura called quietly as he approached.

He didn't respond.

"Go…with her…if that's what-" she tried but he stopped her.

"What are you babbling about?" he snapped. "Are you still half-asleep?"

That attitude made Sakura furious. She had put her feelings aside to soothe him and that was the kind of answer she got? "Now you listen here!" she began to yell but Calixta stopped her.

"Sssh! Sakura-san, Naruto is still sleeping and there's really no need to shout," she eased.

"But he-!" the pink-haired girl tried again but was again stopped.

"It's okay. Here, since you're up anyway, would you mind starting your watch a little early?" Calixta proposed.

"Wh-?" Sakura stuttered.

The strange older girl tried not to revel in the looks of incredulity they were giving her. "Good. You," she turned to Sasuke and grabbed him by the collar. "You're coming with me."

"What?" Sasuke demanded as he tried to fight her off. Her grip was strong but he was stronger. Not that it mattered because as by the time he got away, he was on his feet and she was headed back into the cave again. "This is ridiculous! Get back here!" he yelled after her and then looked to Sakura for help. Unfortunately, the pink-haired girl was sitting down in his seat with a very resigned look on her face.

"Just go and get it over with," she told her dark-haired teammate.

"S-Sakura…" he blinked stupidly downward at her. He'd known for some time now that she liked him, not that she really tried to hide it. If anything, he would have expected her to fly into an overly protective rage and not let them anywhere near one another.

"She's got a terrible sense of direction so you'd better catch up with her quick," she advised, stoking the fire.

Then, Sasuke felt that strange snapping in himself once again and started to follow Calixta's footsteps without really thinking about what he was doing. The vacant look in his eyes unnerved Sakura a little but she let it go.

"She cares a great deal for you," Calixta taunted from the gallery just ahead of Sasuke.

He didn't answer.

"You can tell because of how easily she let you go. She realizes that what's between you and me doesn't really mean anything," she elaborated.

He didn't really like any of the ideas she was spewing at him so when he caught up with her, he grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her back.

"Oh, now, now. Don't be so rough," she teased, her heart fluttering.

"Now I'm starting to think that you are doing it on purpose!" he accused as he failed to drag her up off the cave floor.

She knew there was no way to explain to him the complexities of the situation because she didn't have a very good handle of them at the moment either. So, instead, she pulled him down and into a hot, urgent kiss.

There was the snapping again, that damned feeling of his good sense abruptly disconnecting from his reality. She was too hot and welcoming beneath his anxious body and without thinking, he laid down on top of her. When he did that, he felt her legs wrap around his waist and hold him close while her hands pulled his ninja crest from his head.

The feeling of her removing just that made his skin tingle and before they knew it, they were practically tearing each other's clothes off. There was a moment, when they were both about half undressed that they paused to look one another in the eye. Again, he was utilizing his Sharingan in an attempt to understand what she was doing.

"Is that helping?" she asked curiously as she brushed his hair away from his eyes.

"Not really…" he admitted.

She nodded and they kept going. "I'm sorry to take your first time from you like this," she regretfully added.

He scoffed. "This isn't my first time," he told her. He had done very similar things to one other girl, one closer to his age. It wasn't this intense, but as far as he was concerned, it counted.

Her eyes practically lit up as she guided him toward their goal. "You can't hurt me, okay?" she told him confidently.

"Is that some kind of challenge? Or your only ground rule?" he laughed.

Then, after all the times he had wanted to slap her, she finally took the initiative and with it a solid swing at him, leaving him with a perfect red handprint on his cheek.

"What the hell?" he demanded loud enough to wonder if the others had heard.

"Your attitude is poor at best so take it however you like. Though, it was more of a…fun fact," she half-joked.

"You hit me again and I'll knock your teeth out," he threatened.

She almost laughed. She would have if she didn't know for sure that he would be even more cross with her. It had been a while since she'd had angry sex like that and the last place she expected to get it was from this young man. "Gimme all ya got," she advised when the head of his cock started to push against her wet heat.

Just that pressure almost made him lose himself but he knew he had to have more self control than that. In the back of his mind, he knew that he had to make this last at least a little before losing himself or all would be in vain.

"Oh, yes, that's right," she encouraged only to have his mouth cover hers again if only to silence such outbursts.

They were finished and panting in a matter of minutes, reveling in the wave of relaxation that washed over them. He was even relaxed enough to rest his head on her chest as he caught his breath. It was soothing to her to have him finally so calm but when it felt like he was starting to drift to sleep, she spoke.

"That was pretty good…for a fourteen-year-old," she teased.

That made him sit up quickly, giving him the chance to look her over one more time. Now that his head was a little clearer, he could tell she was just trying to get a rise out of him. So, he took the compliment in stride. "Good. Now get dressed so we can get back."

"Yes, sir," she mockingly saluted but did as he told her.

"That didn't take very long," Sakura teased when they returned less than an hour later.

Sasuke gave a sound of disapproval and went to lay down. Once he was asleep, the girls started to whisper near the mouth of the cave as the weather began to die down.

"Sweetie, it's not about how long the actual coupling takes, though they usually say the more the merrier."

"I don't think I need to hear this," Sakura shook her head.

"I don't see why not. It's just as much about every moment that led up to the coupling."

"Calixta, really-" she tried again but was cut off.

"You should know he didn't care to linger with me. It was 'all business' if you know what I mean."

"What are you getting at?" the pink-haired girl sighed.

"That his attraction to me is superficial and probably won't last once we get back to your village. Then he'll be back to normal. Ya know, sometimes guys will get caught up in things like that and they don't linger because they really want to spend their time with someone else."

Sakura sighed. "I'll take your word for it."

"Look, I'll be staying in the Leaf Village for quite a while. If you ever want to talk about anything, just fine me," she smiled warmly.

"Yeah, okay."

They struck camp as soon as the weather cleared and they traveled through the night, reaching the village in the early morning.

"Alright! We're home!" Naruto set her trunk down. "Now, were do we put your stuff?"

She gave a startled look. "Actually…I'm not sure. I was told there would be accommodations made for me but that was all. They didn't even tell me who I should talk to."

"Well, we have to report to Kakashi-sensai now that we're back. Why don't you come with us. I'm sure he knows who you can talk to," Naruto suggested and she agreed.

Their teacher was reclined in a hammock outside his home reading a dirty manga when his students approached.

"Kakashi-sensai! We're back!" Naruto called.

He exited the hammock to stand and greet them. "I trust everything went well in spite of the weather?" he called back but then faltered when he saw who was with them. "Is this the woman you were to escort?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, this is her. Her name's Calixta," the blonde ninja reported.

If they could have seen more of their teacher's face, they would have noticed the slight concern in his features. "Terrific, nice to meet you," he gave a slight bow.

"Do you know where she's supposed to go?" Naruto obliviously continued.

"No…but I'm sure I could find out. Why don't you three go rest, get washed up, write your reports and I'll check on you this afternoon?"

The three students agreed and happily left their teacher with the strange woman's luggage.

"But first," Kakashi told her when they were gone, "I'd like to speak with you, if you wouldn't mind."

She felt his anxiety and agreed. "Okay, sure."

He led her inside and made tea. "The mission request message didn't say it was you," he began.

"What?" she took up a defensive air. "Of course it did. I wrote the damn thing."

"If that were the case, those three would not have been chosen to escort you back to our village without a chaperone," he continued.

She pursed her lips. "I was wondering about that but they insisted that they were the ones you sent and I didn't want to wait any longer to get here than I had to," she told him.

"I see. Are you implying that someone tampered with your message?" he accused lightly.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm simply telling you what I did. After being extended such a generous offer from your people, I wouldn't dream of misleading you," she nearly fretted.

Kakashi studied her for a long moment. "I believe you," he finally said. "And they seem to be fine so I guess there's no harm done," he sighed.

"I'm just lucky that for the most part they're all still pretty immature, at least in that regard," she gave a nervous laugh.

"They didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

"They were fine. Naruto was oblivious and Sakura, I feel like her and I could be friends if things work out," she gave a hopeful smile.

"What about Sasuke?" Kakashi pressed.

"He…noticed me," she admitted, "But I don't think it's anything to worry about," she dismissed.

"For his sake, I hope you're right. You shouldn't even be allowed near boys his age, or girls for that matter," he accused playfully.

"That's what I was thinking when they told me who they were," she laughed a little.

Her laughter struck a chord in him and he leaned toward her. "Why are you here?" he asked suddenly.

"Because I was led to believe that there are people here who can help me get this under control," she replied simply.

"And they don't have people like that where you're from?"

"Apparently not," she rolled her eyes. "Nope. This is the third village I've been to since it started."

"What happened at the other two?" he questioned boldly.

"Everyone who tried to help me failed and it eventually became apparent that in order for their society to function properly again, I would have to leave."

"You've got some unusual abilities, I'll give you that but I'm skeptical as to whether you could disrupt an entire village's society."

"We'll see," she sighed. "Now, since you feel so comfortable interviewing me, I'd like to ask you something." She didn't give him the chance to agree, simply continued when it looked like he was about to nod. "So, are you…gay?"

Her question shouldn't have thrown him off as much as it did but it was spoken so suddenly, and so frankly that he couldn't help being a little taken aback. "Not exactly…" he nervously scratched the back of his head.

She pursed her lips and looked him over. "No, I suppose not," she mused after her examination.

"Why do you ask?" he inquired, somewhat knowingly.

"Because I'm trying to figure out why you're still unaffected by me," she told him, then finished her tea.

He smirked but she didn't get to see it because his mask was already back in place. "Don't worry, I'm not completely unaffected but it sounds like I can handle it better than most you encounter."

"So it seems," she cocked her head in curiosity. She couldn't help trying to focus her energy on him, to test and push him to see how he would react.

He felt it but took a moment to debate whether or not to say anything.

"I'd like to speak to someone about my arrangements before it gets any later," she told the teacher.

"Of course. Right this way," he led her out of his home and toward the elder's hall. However, since the streets weren't very busy, he couldn't help bringing it up when they were about half way there. "Why are you focusing on me so much?" he asked quietly, not looking at her.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to stop," she told him. She did try to stop but something about his posture, the air about him, made it very difficult.

"If you can't help it, that's fine. I understand and I'll deal with it because you're actively seeking help," he told her evenly.

"Thank you. I was…curious. I didn't mean to offend you," she managed.

"Save your curiosity for whatever kind of training they decide to put you through," he advised. "And as far as offending me goes, it's a non-issue."

She nodded just as they arrived at their destination. He walked her in and helped her find who she needed before taking his leave. About an hour later, a set of servants was sent to retrieve her things from his place and he didn't see or hear from her for a long time after that.


	2. Delegation

Three months later, Kakashi and others of similar ranking were called before the elders for a meeting. No one seemed to know what it was about as they attempted to gather information from one another without avail.

Suddenly, a loud bang. "Silence! This meeting will come to order," the eldest announced.

Then, the attendance was taken and they were lined up in two long parallel lines, perpendicular to the leader of the assembly.

"Good. Now, we have a serious matter to work out today but it is my sincerest hope that our deliberations be brief. Many of you are unaware that a young woman has come to our village seeking our guidance concerning her unusual skill set, the details of which can be found on the scrolls you were given upon entering. You may open and read them now," he stopped and gave them a few minutes to read and take in the information.

As soon as Kakashi read the first line, he knew who they were deliberating on. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that but there wasn't anything he could do about it so he just breathed a slight sigh as he let his feelings go. Before she came to their village, he had heard of her, little bits and pieces here and there. There was a girl who, upon entering puberty, her chakra was suddenly unlocked. This, in itself, wasn't unusual. There were many who might be considered late bloomers, whose skills emerged after childhood, triggered by maturation or other influences.

However, the nature through which her chakra manifested themselves was unusual. It was almost entirely sexual and as if that weren't bad enough, she had the worst luck finding someone who was willing to help her that either didn't have ulterior motives or simply became overwhelmed by her regardless of how good their intentions were. He didn't put much stock in these stories, just took them as things young men told each other for entertainment but there she was, a documented phenomenon, not to mention having met her only a few months prior.

The list provided them wasn't terribly detailed, no doubt for the sake of her privacy, but it did confirm his suspicions from that short cup of tea they shared when she first arrived. She was almost like a catalyst or maybe more appropriately, an amplifier for certain emotions in those around her. Those emotions, of course, being of the sort associated with attraction, almost entirely physical attraction but that really depended on the person. It seemed that once she had attracted someone's attention, it was extremely, if not excruciatingly, difficult to un-attract them.

To add insult to injury, once that spark was lit, her energy fostered it and those feelings were propagated in her. All it took was a single moment of even just idle attraction to start the process, but once the effected individual wasn't around her for long enough, the side-effects (like difficulty concentrating, easily distracted, forwardness, etc.) seemed to completely fade.

At least, that's how it was. According to what the elder said next, she had managed to learn to control these skills a great deal better since her arrival. Because she was showing so much promise, they wanted to release her into the custody of one of those present to continue her training. The selection process was to be volunteer based and teachers were urged to consider the effect she might have on their students when deciding whether or not to volunteer.

Upon seeing there were only three volunteers, none of which he thought would be a better candidate than himself, Kakashi stepped forward.

"You sure about that, Kakashi?" Guy chided quietly from his place in line a few feet away.

The silver-haired man didn't answer but mostly because the elder was speaking again. "Good, now, those of you who did not volunteer, step back. Give your comrades some space." He didn't stop motioning till they were circled around the walls of the room. Then, he made another motion, this time behind him, and another elder led a young woman out toward those that remained near the center of the room.

She held his arm because she was blindfolded and left to stand in the middle of the square the four volunteers created, giving them the opportunity to get a good look at her. She was short, just rough five feet tall, with fair skin and long dark hair that reached down the back of her legs. In addition, she had generous curves that were poorly hidden in the loose robe.

"Go ahead, my dear, whenever you're ready," the leader urged.

A moment later an intense energy swept through the room, starting at her and radiating outward. Naturally, it hit the four closest to her the hardest but that didn't mean the others present didn't feel it to varying degrees. After that first rush, one of those standing closest to her fell to their knees, which wasn't terribly remarkable because a number of others standing farther away did the same.

With another, stronger rush, a second volunteer faltered and was taken away, leaving Kakashi with the only female that stepped forward.

Then, the tactic changed, she turned slightly and pointed a finger at each of them, much to the relief of everyone else in the room. This time, the feeling he experienced wasn't a sudden rush or really a burst of any kind. Instead, he felt drawn toward her. Before long, he realized that if he didn't keep his concentration, his feet were going to start moving without his permission, an idea that both unnerved and excited him.

Also unnerving, was how difficult it became to take his eyes, or eye rather, away from her to check out his competition. She seemed to be faring about as well as he until he realized that the fact that he wasn't looking at her and trying to concentrate on something else, was working to his advantage.

So, as difficult as it was, Kakashi made himself think about all the dumb little things that he needed to get done that day after the meeting. The list had gotten fairly long but it only took until the sixth item before he could take a step back.

Calixta flinched at his defiance and, after taking a moment to ensure her hold on the woman, she actually turned toward the silver-haired man. It was strange. Even though he knew she couldn't see through the blindfold, thanks to the blinding script painted on it, it felt like she was looking at him. In that moment, he forgot about his list so she turned the hand pointing at him palm up and made a come-hither motion that started slowly as he felt her assert herself again and then quickened as he was jerked back the toward her a step.

The collective gasp of the room made him remember himself and she was forced to go back to maintaining her influence over the pair. The idea of taking on two people like this was something that the elders had only recently began to propose to her and this was the first time she'd really tried to exercise her power over more than one person who was supposed to put up a fight about it.

So, she decided to up the ante a little and let herself focus on what energy she could get from them. Simply exerting the energy to hold them like that nearly drained her if she didn't compensate by drawing on another source, preferably the one she was pouring into. It felt good to be replenished and she let her head roll back and side to side as she tried not to smile too wide or lick her lips.

As the goodness she felt was pushed onto the two still standing near her, they each made a sound that they hoped the rest of the room didn't hear. Kakashi gave a heated gasp while the woman let slip the slightest of sighs. Each wanted to look about the room to see if there were any discernable reactions to such sounds but found it even more difficult to tear their eyes away from her.

Then, out of nowhere, the elder appeared behind her and used his great cane to bop her on the head. She made a strangely amusing, disoriented face as her hands feel to her sides. She paused for a moment to gather her bearings before suddenly turning around.

"What the hell?" she demanded.

"You were getting carried away," he told her, removing her blindfold.

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue.

"Go back to your seat," he shooed her but was only steps behind her to get back to his own chair. "Okay. I think you've all seen enough here. Now, we need to decide which of these two, apparently worthy, candidates gets custody of Calixta." He paused for a moment because the girl seated behind him spoke.

".Shi." she said simply, only loud enough for him to hear, and then resumed her silence.

"Before we hear from anybody else, I'd like each of you to speak for a moment," the elder motioned to the woman and then to Kakashi. "Tell us why you are more capable."

"Sir, with all due respect to Kakashi, I believe that simply being female makes me more qualified for this mission." The general scoff about the room made her continue. "This girl's powers are very visually based even though that wasn't the case here. The fact that she can tell just by looking whether or not he's aroused is a great disadvantage."

The elder wasn't going to say that it didn't take that kind of visual assessment for the young woman to make that call.

"Oh, I don't think so," Kakashi butted in, "Regardless, the fact of the matter is, I am less effected by this young woman's abilities. I was even before she had all this training."

"You know her?" the woman snapped incredulously.

Kakashi took a moment to explain the situation and make reference to the part of his report about his suspicion that her mission request might have been tampered with. The elder knew all these things already but let the younger man explain for the sake of the others who cared.

"Oh," the woman paused before all but conceding.

With that, it was decided. The meeting was adjourned, leaving Kakashi with the elder and Calixta so they could finish working out the arrangements. Admittedly, he got a little more than he bargained for.

He was to stay in his home with him and he wasn't given time to make the space for her. She was to go with him when he left from there.

"That was quite a show," he told her as they left, pulling the cart full of her things.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she blushed and looked away from him. "It wasn't my idea."

"I got that impression right up until you decided to show off," he told her evenly.

She shot a look at him out of the corner of her eye. He still wasn't looking at her. "I know…" she trailed of. "But…it's been a long time since I've had a feeling like that."

"Like what?" he questioned.

"I'll only answer you that because you're in charge of me, or whatever, now. I felt…empowered," she admitted.

He gave a slight nod which she hoped was in approval.

"What do you think of me?" she asked suddenly.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied.

She was obviously disappointed but didn't say anything because they were approaching his home.

"Since no one warned me I'd be taking someone in, I don't have anything ready for you. So, here's what we're going to do. You're going to clean up my kitchen and do a couple other little things for me while I get your room ready," he informed.

She gave him a slightly odd look but agreed because she didn't want him to think she was difficult. They had just finished their lunch and gotten back to work when Kakashi's three students stopped by.

"Kakashi-sensai!" Naruto called from outside.

Calixta went to where the teacher was moving things around. "Your students have come looking for you," she informed.

With the meeting and then having her dumped on him, the promise he'd made to meet them for a hike slipped his mind. "Let'em in," he called back.

"It's you!" the three said when she opened the door. Naruto shouted while the other two said it more quietly.

"Yeah, hi again. Kakashi-sensai asked me to show you in," she motioned.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked what they were all thinking but managed to keep her tone polite enough not to get them into trouble.

"It's a long story. Here ya go," she motioned to the spare room he'd been working on.

"Sorry guys, there was this meeting this morning and then all this other stuff. I'm gunna have to take a raincheck on the hike for today, sorry!" he managed.

"What?" Naruto was obviously devastated. "But you promised!"

"I know but like I said, it'll have to be another time," he eased the young boy.

"Can we stay for dinner then?" he tried.

"You hate my cooking," Kakashi idly pointed out.

"No kidding, bleh! But hers," he pointed to Calixta, "Is amazing!"

Calixta blushed at his enthusiasm.

"I wasn't told," Kakashi mused. "Okay. That sounds fair, right?" he looked to the young woman and she nodded in agreement. "Just send one of them to the market if you need anything to make dinner," he told her.

She did need a few things to feed so many people and pulled Sasuke aside to fetch them for her.

"Why are you here?" he asked darkly when she gave him the list.

"I already told you why I came to your village. My motivations remain the same. Besides, weren't you the one who said that Kakashi-sensai would appreciate me?"

He grumbled and left.

The teacher had just sent the other two students out to start carrying her things in and turned to her. "Why'd you pick Sasuke to get the groceries?"

She disliked being questioned at every turn but she figured that before too long, he would get a better feel for her and stop asking so many pointed questions. "Because he's the one I would have picked even if that stuff before didn't happen. He'll get what we need, and won't take all day. Would you rather I have sent one of the others?"

"No, that's fine."

"Are you still worried about him?" she countered.

He didn't answer that. "They're almost done moving your stuff in," he said as he walked away. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Not that I can think of," she replied and went back to her task.

"Good. I have some reading I need to do. Call me when dinner's ready," he told her.

"I'm sure you do," she gave a dry little laugh. If there was one thing they did during the three months she spent with the elders and others of similar ranking, it was make records of her. They often offered to let her read what they wrote about her but almost as often she either simply skimmed them or just refused. After all, she was there and they told her what they discovered as they went along as they felt it was relevant to her development anyway.

When things were nearly ready, she carefully rapped on his doorframe.

"What is it?" he called distractedly from inside.

"The table's set and dinner's nearly finished," she told him.

"Thank you. I'll be out in a minute."

When she returned to the kitchen and looked into the dining area at the table. "That looks great! You guys did a wonderful job," she complimented when she saw that they set the table.

"It'd look even better if there were food on it," Naruto jokingly complained.

"I was just thinking the same thing," she winked over her shoulder at him and started putting their meal into larger serving dishes for them to take to the table.

The last dish was just set down when Kakashi emerged. "It smells wonderful," he told her.

"No kidding!" Naruto added enthusiastically.

"She even makes enough to feed Sasuke, Naruto, and everyone else," Sakura joked.

"So, where'd you go all this time anyway?" Naruto asked between bites, "We brought you here and then you disappeared!"

"I went into training," she replied simply.

"For what?" he eyed her with the playful suspicion of someone sizing up a potential opponent.

She shot a careful look at Kakashi. She had been scolded more than once for offering too much information to those considered too young for such things.

Unfortunately, he wasn't looking at her. Rather, he was taking stock of his students.

"What're you lookin' at him for?" the blonde questioned incredulously.

When his most rambunctious student pointed at him with his chopsticks, Kakashi reentered the conversation. "It's rude to point like that, Naruto-kun. Let's talk about something else." He redirected them. Actually, he had expected her to at least try to answer his question and felt he was coming to her rescue rather than his.

When they were finished, the three student ninja started to gather up the dishes to wash but Kakashi stopped them. "That's alright. You've done enough work here for one day. Go have fun or study or something," he motioned toward the door and they were gone in a matter of seconds. "I'll help you with the dishes," he told Calixta.

"Why did you look at me like that when Naruto asked about your training?" he asked curiously as they began.

"Because I've been told that I still have difficulty communicating my abilities to…individuals at his stage. I wanted to give you the opportunity to say something before I did, especially since they're you're students."

"He's the only one who doesn't know," Kakashi pointed out.

"Good for him," she gave a sad little smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he pressed.

"I don't want to push him. He'll get there before too long. What right do I have to-?" she stopped herself, feeling that enough had been said.

He gave her an odd look out of the corner of his eye. "To what?" he wanted to exercise his power over her to see how she'd react.

"To…I dunno…whatever you'd call it. To corrupt him?" she incredulously guessed.

"But corrupting the other two was okay?" he feigned accusation.

She heard the oddness in his tone and actually turned to look at him. "I didn't. They were already aware before they met me, even if only a little."

"What makes you so sure?" he continued to badger her.

"Even when I first met them I could tell. Sasuke was the only who showed any kind of physical reaction, however small," she covered offhandedly. "And Sakura just wanted to talk with me. Besides, didn't you read the part about how I can kinda see these kinds of things…or at least I used to. Now it usually takes some effort," she almost complained.

"The way they described it made it very difficult to fathom. Could you explain it to me?" More than anything he wanted to hear it in her own words.

"It's like a color, an aura…certain colors mean certain things."

"What kinds of things," he pressed, trying not to sound at all eager to understand her.

"Maturity, mostly; well, sexual maturity is the easiest."

"What other kinds of maturity are there?"

"Physical, which by itself, I can't really sense, only when it's connected with the mental and emotional maturation. Everything else is a lot more subtle and I don't know if I have proper names for them yet. But if you want, I can tell you when I think of them," she offered.

"That would be good. Thank you. Anything else?"

"A person's attraction toward me makes their aura easier to see, like they get brighter, more intense."

"That makes sense. Tell me about the auras you see from my students," he told her with a musing tone, both to test her and to learn about them.

"Well, are you sure it's proper to speak about them like this?" she shifted uncomfortably.

"You let me decide what's proper," he urged.

"Well…to start with the easiest, there's Naruto. Not that he isn't a complex person. It would be best to describe him and others of his stage is green, though that hue is fading. Those who are mature give varying degrees of a red color, some closer to purple, others more orange. Your other two students are just starting to really turn red."

"What about me?"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're sexually mature. However, even that first day I met you I had difficulty seeing that part of you. Now I can't see it unless I really, really try, which I haven't bothered to do," she offhandedly reasoned.

"Why do you think that is?" he pressed.

"You're so distant," she quietly replied. She almost added, "So difficult to reach," but held it back.

Kakashi nodded in approval.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can try," he shrugged.

"Why are you asking me questions you already know the answers to?"

"Because I want to hear the answers from you," he answered simply.

She wasn't sure what to think about that and let it go. She spent the rest of the evening in her room arranging things and humming to herself. Kakashi poked his head in occasionally to check on her but she didn't acknowledge him so he didn't interrupt.

Calixta finally laid down in bed at about midnight. She was exhausted after such a long day but her head was still buzzing with activity. There was so much to think about. The morning meeting and blindfolded exhibition of her power, for one. For another, she was once again with the cold, silver-haired man, who seemed even colder toward her now than before. It made her happy and sad at the same time. She was getting what she'd wanted for years now, successful assistance in controlling her strange chakra, but now the person she felt the closest to and the most connected to also somehow seemed the furthest away. Then, there was his students. He was making it very difficult for her to determine how much distance she was supposed to put between herself and them.

All in all, it took her over an hour of meditation before she could consider everything with enough detail to fall asleep. However, just as her head hit the pillow, she felt someone in the room with her. She sat back up and saw Kakashi sitting at her desk.

"Kakashi-sensai…is there something wrong?" she asked carefully as she peered through the darkness.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked knowingly.

"Are you?" she countered evenly.

"Or are you looking for trouble?" he continued, leaning forward to give her a better look.

"It's just the first night. I was warned that whoever picked me up might not…be ready for me so soon. I've learned to be patient," she replied, an edge of irritation in her voice slipping through.

"So you're waiting for me. You're not even going to try," he said, not bothering to hide that he was annoyed.

"That's not true. If you hadn't made an advance after tomorrow morning, I would certainly have reminded you of your _obligation_," she informed flatly.

Kakashi's brow furrowed but between the crest covering nearly a third of his face and the darkness, it went unnoticed. "I knew it was you before I volunteered. I had a pretty good idea what I was getting myself into."

She gave a distant little smile. "I didn't realize it was you until you pulled away from me like you did," she replied.

"I had a feeling that was the case. So that blindfold wasn't just for show," he remarked offhandedly.

"No…" she trailed off, remembering the events of that morning once more. "That's probably when I should have stopped," she added.

"What makes you say that?"

"That was all they really needed to see," she told him simply. "I just got a little carried away. I'm sorry," she looked down at her lap where her hands fiddled with the sheets still in her lap.

"Don't apologize. In fact, first rule. You are not allowed to apologize to me or anyone else unless I say so, got it?" he informed.

"Um, yeah, okay…" she managed.

"Good. You apologize out of a force of habit and it really takes a lot of the meaning out of the gesture," he told her. "Now, I've read the restrictions they gave you for leaving the inner compound but I don't want to be your babysitter. If I'm here. Come get me when you're ready. If I'm not and you don't want to wait for me, go find someone."

"I hope you're not going anywhere for a while…" she mused. "'Cause you and your students are the only ones I've met here on the outside," she half-joked.

He laughed a little. "I'll see what I can do."

"Unless you have a list of referrals," she chided.

"Not presently," though it wasn't a bad idea.

"So…I'm allowed in your bedroom?" she playfully asked even though she was blushing too much to manage eye contact.

"Sure, but not so much when I'm not around. There's nothing you need in there anyway. And my study is off limits," he added authoritatively.

"Naturally," she nearly laughed. "But, does all this mean that you're not going to take the initiative, like…ever?" she tried to hide her impending disappointment.

"I didn't say that," he looked her up and down and then laughed a little when he saw how relieved she was.

"Good. Things might get boring quick if we eliminate half our options out of hand," she giggled.

The pragmatism of her outlook shouldn't have surprised him; the way her giggle resonated in him shouldn't have either. "Alright," he stood and gave her a slightly expecting look.

She appeared puzzled. "So, are you attracted to me even just a little bit?" she frowned.

Kakashi's reply wasn't verbal. He simply reached up and hooked his index finger in the cloth covering his face. As the dark fabric was pulled down, a little more of his fair skin was revealed to her and with that, his cheeky grin.

His smile made hers return and she nearly started fidgeting with the urge to touch his cheeks. The tall man's smile widened slightly when he saw how patient she was being with him.

"I'm sorry, you must be accustomed to this arrangement being easier after spending so much time with the same people," he added as he finished removing the scarf that was covering his face to drop it on the chair he'd been sitting in.

The sound of the fabric landing on the wooden chair made a shiver run up her spine. "I was looking forward to a change of pace," she replied quietly. "And…let's face it…they're not called the elders for nothing," she gave a weird little laugh. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"You first," he motioned.

"I'm twenty but my birthday's in a few months," she replied.

"Twenty-six," he replied evenly and noted that she appeared slightly pleased by his answer. "Look, I don't really like a lot of rules so I'm just going to make this up as we go along." This was mostly because he wasn't really sure what sort of expectations they should set for each other. "So, for tonight," he finally closed the distance between them and guided her to lay back down on the mattress.

Then was his turn to be oddly pleased and this was because of her choice of nightwear, a loose t-shirt and a pair of panties, nothing else. It made his work just that much easier.

"Tonight, let's just see what happens," he proposed and when she bit her lip to nod in affirmation, he kissed her.

Calixta believed from the older man's grin that he was attracted to her, she just couldn't feel it until their lips pressed together for the first time. Then, he let go on the tight reign he'd put on his desire and was rewarded for his patience in doing so by the feeling of her already starting to writhe beneath him both from the weight of his body and that of his energy.

It made her grasp at him, absentmindedly digging her fingernails into his skin. Though, a few moments later, when she became more accustomed to that feeling, she eased up because she realized that he very well might have scratch marks on his arms even through his sleeves. She redirected her attention to touching his cheeks and neck. His skin was softer than she expected, she mused, before moving to lace her fingers in his messy hair.

He half expected her to remove the leaf-seal bandana that covered his left eye but she seemed intent to simply work around it or trace her fingertips over the edges.

"Do you mind?" she asked carefully with the tips of her first three fingers rested on the fold of fabric over his left cheekbone.

"Go ahead," he told her almost reluctantly. His reluctance wasn't caused as much by the idea of showing his Sharingan to her. If they were going to be living so closely, it was an inevitability. Rather, it was because he was disappointed. He thought that she would be mature enough not to let her curiosity get the better of her and just let it be.

She gave a little smile and kissed him again as her fingers quested beneath the make-shift eye patch. Once she felt his eyelashes on her fingertips fluttering at her sudden intrusion, she withdrew. "Hm," she gave him a thoughtful look.

Kakashi was more than a little surprised to find that all she wanted was to know if he had two eyes, a notion he found intriguing to say the least. However, he was also slightly unnerved. Even the slightest touch from her seemed to send electricity through his senses. He wondered if she wasn't going to get carried away again and this time, take him with her.

Regardless, he wanted to see her naked so, without any further hesitation, he pulled her shirt up over her head. She gave a sharp little gasp at the sudden exposure to the cool night air and even though she could only see one of his eyes, she saw a sparkle of lust. That sparkle motivated her to attempt to remove his clothes as well but she had much less success for two reasons.

First, his uniform was complicated even in the light. There were so many buckles and fastens and zippers that she couldn't even find where to begin. On top of that, his mouth was happily teasing her hard nipples in ways that made thinking almost impossible.

"Ooooh," she half-whined, half-moaned, "It's not fair."

"What's that?" he barely stopped lapping and suckling to ask.

"I'm almost naked and you've still got all your clothes on!" she fretted, fitfully pulling at his sleeves to no avail.

"How unfortunate that you haven't realized after so long living with ninja that we don't play fair. In fact, we prefer not to. Besides, I took my scarf off." He laughed and then took her moment of incredulous shock to make a clone of himself behind her. He wasn't going to have it do anything yet but when her furious hands reached for the crest covering his eye out of spite, he spoke to it. "Grab'er hands for me, would ya?"

"Who-?" was as far as she got before she was turned enough to see who he was talking to, then her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"Sure thing," the clone replied pleasantly, smiling down at the woman laying on the mattress as he gathered each of her wrists into each of his hands, finding that she was so much smaller than he that both her wrists could easily fit into one of his hands with room to spare.

She fought the man behind her but only so he wouldn't hold her so offensively. Once she could lace their fingers together, she was much more compliant to his grip. She also compensated by wrapping her legs around the one still kneeling between them.

Feeling her strong legs wrap around him brought the real Kakashi back to what he was doing. However, he didn't exactly pick up where he left off. Instead, he started to move lower, down her chest, down her taut stomach, to her navel.

Even just his breath on the little dent in her stomach made Calixta kick. "Ah-ha-ha-hey!"

He hadn't intended to linger there for long until he evoked such a sudden reaction. "Hm?" he made the inquisitive little sound as he leaned down the rest of the way to brush his lips along the outer rim of her belly button. This earned him an even better reaction. She burst out laughing and squirmed in their grasp at the tickling motions.

She tried to protest but her words failed her in favor of mindless laughter as his tongue snaked inside her navel and wiggled around. It made a moan break through the giggling enough to be heard.

"Looks like we got ourselves a live one," the clone holding hands with her commented.

"So it seems," Kakashi replied and resumed his downward motions. As soon as he was close enough, he flicked his tongue out to taste the wet spot in her panties. She jerked and moaned again, this time more deeply since she wasn't being forced into laughter as well, but it was still nothing compared to the one she made as he pushed her knees together between them to slip her panties down her legs.

He found her scent almost intoxicating and wasted no time in hitching her knees over his shoulders so he could more easily taste her. The first time the tip of his tongue flicked her clit, there was nearly a flood in his mouth and he ended up making some very sloppy sounds trying to catch it all. "My goodness," he gasped as he captured the last few drops for the time being.

She didn't hear him. She was all but gone as her heals dug into his back, her hands squeezed those laced with her, and her body arched. She wanted to touch him so badly but there were so many things stopping her, not the least of which was how much pleasure he was giving her. Though, also contributing to her hesitation toward action was also the idea of just letting him do as he pleased and the notion of saving something so simple for later. It made her wonder how far he intended to go that first night.

She bucked a little to test his grip on her hips, to see if he would hold her more tightly. It worked and caused the beginning of her next orgasm. What followed was a series of wild little squeals mixed with moans so heated he felt himself reacting physically to them.

She could feel this but had let enough of herself go that there wasn't much she could do with it. Her idle control was such that she didn't respond to just anyone who reacted to her anymore and she was too distracted by what he was doing to her to harness her power. This left her largely powerless unless she wanted to really exert herself and it was amazing.

Her head tossed fitfully back and forth in the lap of the clone, "Oooh…'Kashi!" she moaned when she came the third time.

He liked that enough to actually stick his tongue inside, making it happen again and making him realize that hearing her say his name like that had a similar effect to what he felt when he was allowing her to touch his bare skin. However, she was making so many other lovely sounds that had different potential effects that he wouldn't think of silencing her.

He kept up on her like that for nearly half an hour before her body started to slacken and her vocal appreciations became weak. As he set her down on her back, he awed at her and didn't bother to try to hide it because she was so dazed that she couldn't have noticed. Then, before dismissing the clone, cradled the back of her neck with his hand so her head wouldn't fall so suddenly to her mattress. He found her pillow and slid it beneath her head. "Good night," he kissed her on the forehead and started to move away.

"No…" she weakly said but the strength of her grip on his sleeve said otherwise.

"Shhh…" he soothed, coaxing her hand off his arm.

"But-" she tried at argue because some of her sense was returning.

"Not tonight," he replied simply and evenly as he retrieved his scarf from the chair a few feet from the bed. "Get some sleep," he added before exiting.

She wasn't in the mind to disagree with him at this point so she simply nodded, figuring that agreeing with him was probably best anyway, and let her eyes slide shut. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that enough of the heat had dissipated from her to feel enough chill to cover herself.

She awoke when the sun rose the following morning and, after putting on a pair of pajamas, quietly exited her room to find out if she was the only one up. She was, as at least as far as she could tell by peeking into the bathroom, the kitchen, and down the hall. She wasn't even going to venture near his bedroom or study. If he was in either, he wouldn't want to be disturbed which would happen if she tried to sneak any further that direction.

Sensing that for the time being she was alone, she decided to take a shower. The warm water felt good and she started to hum to herself. Because of this, she did not hear him enter a few minutes later until she heard him peeing in the toilet. It startled her so much that she nearly fell over.

"Aw, don't stop. I like that song," he teased.

"You didn't even knock," she pointed out shakily.

"Yeah, it's my bathroom," he pointed out but his tone remained relaxed.

It took almost all her self control not to peek around the curtain at him until she was sure he was finished with his personal business but even then she was surprised. He was completely naked but since he wasn't facing her, she wasn't afforded a peek at some of the more interesting details.

"I'm surprised at you," he said chidingly as he turned just a little to see her but not enough to reveal the left side of his face.

Her eyes grew wide and she ducked back behind the curtain.

"I would have peeked when I got to see everything," he shrugged and exited, closing the door behind him.

She finished showering in a hurry and scurried to her room to dress for the day. When she emerged, he was dressed and getting some things around in his bag.

"Would you like me to make breakfast?" she asked when she emerged.

He smirked beneath his scarf. He wasn't sure what he liked better, that he could surprise her so easily or that she got over it so quickly. "Are you hungry?"

She shrugged. "If you have to leave right away, I can make something you could take with you," she offered.

"I don't have to be anywhere for a couple hours so do whatever you think sounds good," he shrugged.

She gave a confident nod and started to work. Once his bag was packed, he sat down in the kitchen to talk to her.

"Ya know, you don't have to cook for me. You're not like some kind of servant or anything," he told her.

She laughed. "I know. And if that were the case, I would probably loathe it. But, as it is, I enjoy it. It gives me something productive to do, a way to contribute, and I love making things," she admitted childishly.

"Never mind then," he shrugged and sat back. "Just don't make me fat," he teased.

She laughed with him and felt much more at ease. "Sometimes…it was the only way I could be part of things. I know it's not like that here but I still get that…that feeling of connectedness from it. Oh, I don't know. Don't listen to me. I sound silly," she blushed and turned her attention back to the task at hand.

"Not at all. In fact, I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind making a meal like the one from last night about every week or so for myself and my students. They really seemed to appreciate it," he proposed.

She gave a shy little grin over her shoulder for a brief second. "That would be most agreeable," she understated.

He gave her an odd look at that reply but it went unappreciated because she wasn't looking at him anymore. "What are you making?" he gave her an odd look when she started mixing spices with a bowl of eggs.

She gave him a looked that asked if he was serious. When it was apparent that he was, she answered. "French toast."

He perked up a little at that.

"So, have you thought about those 'rules' you mentioned, the ones you were going to make up as you went along?" she asked offhandedly.

"A bit, why?"

"I have a suggestion," she informed.

He was obviously not surprised by that, "What is it?"

"Knock before you come in the bathroom when you know I'm in there," she requested.

"I thought we went over this last night. If you make rules for me I'm just going to break them unless you have a way to stop me," he pointed out haughtily.

She blushed at the memory. "Would you mind setting the table? This is almost done," she distractedly requested. "Ah, yes, the ninja mentality. The elders here didn't seem to stress it while I was with them," she mused.

"Well, you'd better get used to it. After all, you agreed to work as a ninja to get where you are."

"I know." She almost apologized but stopped herself just in time. "It's just that after all I've accomplished, it feels wrong, ya know?"

"I'm afraid I don't," he sat down when the table was set.

"Before I came here, it felt like I was constantly taking advantage of people, often without even realizing it. I didn't like that feeling so I sought to stop it or at least manage it. Now I have and now to pay for that I have to use it to take advantage of people. I suppose I should just be glad that it's for a purpose this time."

"They never said it _had_ to be your specialized abilities you used to work off your debt," he commented between bites.

"Yeah, but I'm otherwise worthless. The children of your village are more competent than me," she laughed incredulously at the notion.

He didn't reply to that, simply added it to the list of things he had to consider. When he was finished, he spoke again, "That was fantastic, thank you," he sincerely told her.

She blushed a little at just how sincere he sounded but took it in stride. "No problem. It was easy."

He was gone a short while later, leaving her to her own devices.

* * *

As the three students left that evening, bellies full, they all felt a lot more comfortable with Calixta. Well, for the most part. They each still had their own reservations about the older girl for various reasons.

"What'd ya think about her not answerin' my question like that and Kakashi-sensai backin' her up like that?" he wondered to his squad-mates. "I mean, what kind of skills can she have that she doesn't even wanna say one little thing about'em?"

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged anxious looks.

"What?" Naruto, who for once was paying attention, asked when he saw the exchange.

"What do you mean?" Sakura tried to cover.

"You know what her deal is, don't you?" he accused.

"You couldn't tell, even a little, when we were bringing her here?" Sasuke accused back.

"She was weird but that was it…right?" he questioned as he thought back through that mission for signs he might have missed but found nothing substantial enough to base anything off of.

The dark-haired teen gave a sigh of exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're unbelievable, you know that right? I mean, even Sakura noticed and she's not even into girls," Sasuke laughed.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped in astonishment at his words.

"What?" Naruto demanded.

"Or perhaps," Sasuke chuckled crudely, "Perhaps you don't like girls."

"I like girls just fine," Naruto defended. "What does that have to do with Calixta?" he asked even though the slightest dawning of understanding was peaking in the back of his mind.

"She's a succubus," Sasuke scoffed.

"She is not," Sakura barely refrained from slapping him this time.

"She's a what?" Naruto laughed. "There's no way! Those things are all scary and evil."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Her abilities are very…personal," she tried. "They're hard to just talk about."

The blonde liked that answer better. "So you _do_ know," he accused again.

"For god's sake, Naruto, of course we know. You're the one who hasn't realized it," Sasuke shook his head. He wanted to just leave but he was worried that Sakura might let slip the encounter between himself and the strange young woman.

"Then tell me!" he childishly complained.

The other two exchanged meaningful looks again.

"You figure it out," Sasuke told him flatly before walking off.

So that she wouldn't get stuck there with Naruto alone, Sakura said good night and left as well.


	3. Social

"I have to leave for a couple of days," Kakashi began one day over lunch.

It wasn't the first time something like this happened and she was starting to get used to finding substitutes for the man who shared his home with her. "Sounds exciting," she teased.

"I want you to try something while I'm away," he told her.

"What's that?" she perked up curiously.

He almost felt bad now because of how excited she looked by his impending request because it wasn't going to be any fun for her. "I'd like you to abstain from sexual activity while I'm away."

"How long did you say you were going to be gone?" she asked dryly, suddenly much less excited.

"Two days, three at the most. If it lasts longer than that, simply do what you need to. I'm just curious to see how long you can last while I'm not here to keep an eye on you."

"Well, if you're not going to keep an eye on me then how do you know I'll do what you ask?" she haughtily proposed.

"I'll know," he told her simply.

She frowned because she believed him.

"Don't worry. When I get back, I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"You bet your cute ass you will," she grumbled through her last bite.

***

However, Kakashi happened upon one other person before he left. Actually, he had been looking for any one of his three students to spread the word that he would be away. He happened upon Sasuke.

"Okay, yeah. I'll let'em know," he agreed readily.

"Oh, Sasuke," Kakashi looked around carefully to make sure no one was listening to them, "One more thing. If I could ask you a favor?"

"Anything, Sensai. What is it?"

"Check up on Calixta while I'm gone. I asked her to do something for me and I'm a little worried…just make sure she's managing okay while I'm gone."

"Don't you think Sakura would be better suited for that? They are sort of friends now," he nearly spat.

"Not in this case I'm afraid. Besides, Sakura-chan is quite busy with some business of her own where you are obviously not as busy."

Sasuke grumbled but agreed to stop by once a day to make sure the young woman was fairing well enough to be left alone.

* * *

The following afternoon, Sasuke found himself in front of his teacher's door. He knocked once quietly and then again a little louder before he got worried enough to sneak around and peek into the windows. Sure enough, she was sleeping in her room. Annoyed that she didn't hear his knocking, he pounded on her window. "Hey! Wake up, lazy ass!"

She started awake so suddenly that she shot upright and her head whipped around. As she attempted to discern what had so violently pulled her from her nap, he got a pretty good look at her. Unfortunately, or otherwise, she wasn't exactly clothed. She had decided to take her snooze in only her bra and panties, leaving his nose to drip a little at the sight of her.

"Damn it! Open the door!" he yelled through the window, pointing in the general direction of the front door.

She blinked in surprise at him about three times before rushing around to open the door. He breathed a sigh of relief when she listened but it stopped short when he realized she hadn't bothered to put anything else on. This time, he decided to try to face her. At least she wasn't completely naked this time.

"Put some god damn clothes on!" he scolded.

She frowned. "Is that why you woke me up?" She was obviously confused.

"Ugh. No, it's just something you should remember to do before answering the door. I'm here because Kakashi-sensai wanted me to stop by while he was gone to make sure you were getting by okay here by yourself," he informed.

"Okay…" she looked around. "Do you want to come in?" she asked, carefully stepping to the side.

He cocked an eyebrow.

"I made cookies earlier," she told him.

"Are you going to get dressed?" he pressed.

"Only if I'm having company," she countered.

"Fine. Go put something else on," he slipped past her and inside.

She closed the door behind them and went to her room to dress. He locked the door and sat down at the kitchen table.

To his dismay, when she returned, she'd only managed to slip on a sundress. But, it was better than nothing, so he let it go especially since she was now serving the promised snack.

"You look like you have something on your mind. I know you don't exactly trust me the most but I'd be happy to listen if you want to talk about it," she offered.

He eyed her evenly. He had a lot on his mind and there was no way he was going to share very much of it with her. However, there was one thing. "You gotta talk to Naruto or something," he told her.

"About what?"

"You know, about you. He can't figure it out and nobody wants to tell him. You have to say something. He's driving everyone crazy."

She gave a sigh of resignation. "Alright. I'll see what I can do. You know him pretty well; how do you think he'll react?"

Sasuke shrugged. "He'll call you a pervert."

She laughed a little. "That's it?"

"Pretty much. As long as you don't do your weird abilities on him, he should be just fine," he jabbed.

"Another difference between the two of you," she noted.

"What do you mean?"

"You would have disliked me regardless," she mused.

"You don't know that," he pointed out.

"Sure I do," she shrugged.

"Then how do you know?" he haughtily countered.

"Because you don't seem to like anybody," she laughed.

He finished his cookie and left with hardly a word after that only to return as promised the following afternoon that his teacher was gone.

This time she was awake but in less of a pleasant mood.

"Come to check on me again I see. How nice. I'm fine. Good bye," were her words as she swung in the hammock outside the house.

"You don't sound fine," he snapped back. "What's wrong?"

"When's Kakashi-sensai supposed to get back? Did he tell you?" she asked suddenly.

"He said two, three days," he shrugged. "What's the matter? You miss'em or something?" he rudely suggested.

She sneered at him out of the corner of her eye. "Go away."

He didn't trust her behavior. "Sure thing but…could you get me a drink or something first. I just came from training and I didn't stop for anything on the way."

She appeared disappointed but didn't argue as she swung herself out of the hammock and went inside. He was shortly behind her. "Here," she tossed him a can of soda before flopping down on the couch.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he pressed as he popped the top.

She sighed. "Fine, whatever. Like you give a shit anyway," she grumbled

"I give a shit 'cause Kakashi-sensai told me to check on you to make sure you're okay while he's gone," he told her matter-of-factly. "Apparently, he doesn't trust you to take care of yourself," he scoffed.

"He told me not to take care of myself," she said in a low voice that he barely heard.

"That's ridiculous," he told her.

"You always find me ridiculous. Why should this be any different?"

"This is different. I can tell. Tell me what it is," he ordered.

"Toss me a soda," she requested.

He did but it was a trick toss and she was too distracted to catch it, leaving it to burst open on the arm of the couch she was laying on, drenching her. She shrieked and leapt to her feet.

Sasuke just laughed at her.

"Ugh, damn it!" she whipped around to face him.

As soon as he saw her thin white blouse sticking to her bare skin beneath, he stopped laughing.

"What the hell! Look what you did! I'm soaked!" she complained.

"I'm trying not to," he grumbled as the corner of his right eye twitched.

Now it was her turn to laugh. She was so frustrated that seeing how easily she could still get to him was amusing to say the least. "Oooh," she pouted, "But look," she bounced over and squished her breasts between her forearms, showing off both her ample bosom and her hard nipples. "It was really cold too," she cooed.

"You had your chance. I'm outta here," he abruptly turned away from her and started toward the door.

"I knew it…" she must victoriously.

"You don't know anything."

"I know you're still attracted to me and it just kills you, doesn't it?" she accused.

"Tch, I can't help the stupid little games you like to play," he countered.

She laughed. "It's not that. Not this time it isn't. It was the first time we met but not now."

He rolled his eyes and tried to leave again.

"If you'd tell me what it is, I could try to conceal it for you," she offered.

"You can't trick me no matter what kinds of stupid mind games you try to play. I know that whatever attraction I feel toward you is because of you," he replied flatly.

"Did Kakashi-sensai happen to tell you what he asked me to do, or rather not to do, while he was away?" she asked curiously.

"Behave?" he dismissed.

"He asked me not to engage in 'sexual activity'," she made silly quote fingers in the air at his words.

"So? God, you're such a whore," he sighed. "Just cause you can't have sex doesn't mean you won't use your abilities. I'm not stupid."

"Sweetie, whores get paid in cash for what they do," she told him frankly. "And maybe you are a little stupid because yes it does. I don't want to tempt fate like that, if you know what I mean."

"This is pointless," he tried once again to leave.

"No, the point is that whatever you've felt toward me since I've started staying here has been all you."

"Right, because I made you answer the door in your underwear and stick your tits in my face," he yelled and then blushed in spite of himself.

"There," she smirked, crossing her arms over her chest out of courtesy to him, "was that so difficult?"

"You're unbelievable." Sasuke's hand actually reached the door this time.

"Thanks for the visit," she feigned cheerfulness as he left.

Sasuke slammed the door. "Damn it!" he thought to himself as he ran away from his teacher's home. "Why does she have to be like that? It's so stupid and so distracting!" The real downfall, even greater than the embarrassment and the anxiety, was that it made him less comfortable in his teacher's home, a place that he had previously felt unusually safe, except perhaps from the teacher himself in which case he could handle.

When he left, she was very disappointed with herself. She should have just told him what was wrong and dealt with his disparaging remarks but she just couldn't do it and she knew she'd have to deal with whatever reaction Kakashi had to that behavior instead. That is, she'd have to deal with that when he returned and it was starting to look like she was going to go another night unsatisfied.

***

Kakashi returned the following afternoon and encountered Sasuke on his way home. "Ah, Sasuke-kun," he greeted happily, "Are you going to check on Calixta?" he assumed.

"Yeah. I didn't know you were back."

"I just returned. How was she?"

"Annoying," he rolled his eyed. "But I think she's fine."

"Oh? I was unaware that the two of you weren't getting along, or is this a recent development?" he tried.

"It's nothing," Sasuke attempted to dismiss.

"I don't believe you," Kakashi told his student.

"I don't really want to talk about it," he tried again.

"I'm sure you don't but I wouldn't ask if it didn't have to do with Calixta. You know her circumstances are…peculiar and you don't have to worry about me telling anybody, if that's what you're worried about," the teacher coaxed.

"Did you ask her to do something while you were away?" the student carefully began.

"I did. Did she speak to you about it?" he inquired hopefully.

"She mentioned it," the dark-haired teen conceded.

"What did she say about it?"

"She only mentioned it yesterday because I asked why she was acting so weird. Well, weird for her."

"Wait," Kakashi actually stopped walking to speak. "Weird how?"

"I dunno, just weird. I didn't spend a lot of time with her so I can't really say exactly," he diverted.

"Sasuke, this is important and I know you're more observant than that. Please, elaborate," Kakashi implored earnestly.

The sincerity in his instructor's voice made him cave. "She was…" he closed his eyes for a moment as he remembered, "listless, mostly, and very easily provoked."

"You were provoking her?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow which was lost in his facial coverings. However, the surprise in his voice was not lost.

"She-" he began.

"She started it," Kakashi finished for him, "I'm sure." He just let that one go because he knew he'd get more out of the young man if he allowed that premise. Overall, it wasn't terribly important which one of them started it. More than anything, it would reveal something about his student's character that he might not have predicted. "Anything else?" he asked the more important question.

"I don't know if you told her it was okay or something but she answered the door in her underwear. That was weird," Sasuke looked away, trying not to blush at the memory.

Kakashi grinned at the idea. "I don't recall every giving her that impression. I hope you let her now how improper that is," he half-joked.

"I mentioned it," Sasuke replied.

"Well, if that's all then, thank you," the teacher nodded.

The teen gave a slight nod as he breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the awkward ordeal was over, and turned to leave.

"Actually, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi stopped him and silently reveled in the air of sudden disappointment that overcame his student.

"Yes, sensai?" he turned reluctantly.

"Would you mind looking in on her one more time before I go home," he proposed.

"Why? Aren't you just going there anyway?" Sasuke incredulously questioned.

"Well, yes but this is more important and it won't take very long. Just do as you have for the other days I've been gone."

"Sure, but why?" he pressed.

"Her relationship with me is different from that with you. I want an assessment of how she's fairing right now without assistance. I've already promised to assist her upon my return and from what you've told me I think it would only aggravate her further if I don't keep my word." And as amusing as that would be, he knew she wasn't ready for that. "Think of it as a reconnaissance mission. Just go and check on her and then report back to me. If you find her too disagreeable, you don't have to linger. Only stay as long as you need to."

"Yes, sensai," he reluctantly agreed and went about his original task.

"Oh, but one more thing. Don't tell her I'm back, okay? It won't help anything."

"Okay."

* * *

When he approached the house, it was quiet. Almost too quiet. He knocked carefully on the door.

"Who is it?" a quiet voice called.

"Sasuke," he called.

"Go away," she called back.

"I'm not leaving until I see you," he answered.

"It's unlocked," she replied.

He entered and locked the door behind him.

"You've seen me," she said when she heard his foot steps.

He had only just caught sight of her sitting in a chair she had pulled over to look out the window when she said that. "Yeah, and you look like hell."

"Whatever." She continued to stare out the window.

"You wanna talk about it?" he offered if only because she had done the same a few days ago.

"Not really. I'm just biding my time. Did you know that one of the easiest ways to keep from doing something is to indecisively debate whether or not to do it?"

"You're thinking about breaking your promise to Kakashi-sensai," Sasuke surmised.

"It wasn't a promise. It was just something he asked me to try," she replied flatly.

"Semantics. You're gunna bitch out," he dismissed.

She sighed and her gaze fell for a moment. "Perhaps."

"And in the meantime, you're just going to sit around and be lazy," he continued.

"Why are you so nasty to me?" she asked quietly, still not looking at him.

"What have you done to deserve my pleasantness?" he scoffed.

She shrugged. "When we first met, you said that Kakashi-sensai would like me. Do you still think that?" her voice was still very flat and even.

"I dunno. It seems he likes you well enough," he tried.

She gave the slightest of nods and then was quiet.

"Do you think he dislikes you?" Sasuke questioned.

She shrugged again. "He's distant. I can't tell. I suppose it's better that way."

"Yeah." Sasuke looked her up and down. "Have you even showered since he left?"

"What's the point?" she sighed.

"Because it's gross. Later," he turned and left. As he exited, he was disappointed that she didn't even look at him or try to stop him. As he approached his teacher, he realized he liked or was at least accustomed to the way she would badger him and it bothered him to see her so apathetic.

"Well?" Kakashi looked up from his dirty manga.

"She doesn't look so good. She hardly even moved," he told his teacher.

Kakashi frowned.

"But you're place is spotless," Sasuke noted offhandedly.

The teacher stood in silent contemplation for a moment. "Did she say anything?"

"She's thinking about giving up," the teen replied. "And she think you don't like her."

That left the teacher with something to consider. Part of him wanted to keep an eye on her from a distance to see what she would do. "What do you think, Sasuke? Do you think she'll give up?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno. She said she's biding her time. She's using her debate about what to do to kill time until you get back. I think she's hoping not to make up her mind before you get back."

Kakashi gave her points for an interesting approach. "Thank you, Sasuke. I may ask of you again this evening if you don't already have plans."

"I don't have any plans. What do you have in mind?" Sasuke cautiously agreed.

"I'm not sure yet," he answered simply and then dismissed his subordinate.

As he approached, he snuck up to look into the window. She was right where Sasuke had left her and he was right. She didn't look very good. In fact, she looked mentally checked out. With that, he decided to go inside.

She didn't stir when he entered so he snuck around in front of her.

"'Kashi-sensai?" she asked vaguely when he came into her view. It was almost as though she didn't believe her eyes.

"Yo," he greeted with a mock salute.

"Did you just get back?" she asked, still obviously distant.

"Just now. How were things while I was gone?" he inquired knowingly.

"Quiet," she replied simply.

"Did you do anything fun?"

"No."

"Did you do anything? Well, anything besides compulsively clean?" he tried again.

"No."

That thoroughly disappointed him. "What did you do, exactly?"

"Nothing, really," she admitted. "I spoke with Sasuke-kun when he came to check up on me like you asked."

"Oh? What did the two of you talk about?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh, you know. He'd give me that look. We'd try to have a conversation but one of us would say or do something stupid and it would degrade from there. He'd call me something nasty; I'd make an innuendo. He'd leave. That's it."

He didn't like the way she was speaking. In the time he'd known her, even that first single afternoon, she was not prone to that kind of telegraphic speech. He also didn't really care for the offhanded way she spoke about everything, as if nothing mattered.

"Calixta-san, how do you feel?" he pulled a chair up a few feet near hers and sat down.

"I don't wanna talk about it," she dismissed with a whisper.

"Okay…What do you want to do?" he asked.

She didn't answer for a long time. As soon as he asked, she started looking back out the window. "I don't know," she would have laughed if she had it in her.

"You mean you really don't know what to do or you don't know where to start?" he continued trying.

This time she didn't answer at all and that made him want to slap her. "You're being rather difficult," he pointed out.

"Permission to apologize?" she dryly mused.

He pretended to consider for a moment. He would have let her do it if he thought she was sincere but he knew that she was being facetious. "I'm going out for a bit then," he told her as he stood.

She gave him an odd look but didn't argue. "Okay. Will you be back tonight?" she asked, once again resuming her distance.

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation. "Calixta! Listen to yourself!" he scolded, raising his voice.

"Huh?" she blinked at him a couple of times.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Sasuke woke me…when he came to check on me," she said but she neglected to mention that was more than a day ago.

"Oh," Kakashi replied as he recalled that his student hadn't mentioned such a thing. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Weird dreams, but okay yeah," she shrugged again.

"What did you have to eat today?" He was starting to become more worried than annoyed that he had to ask these kinds of questions.

"Eat?" She paused to think. "I didn't eat today. Wasn't hungry."

"Did you eat last night?"

"Probably," she dismissed.

"Calixta, if you can't take care of yourself for a few days while I'm away, I'm not sure how well it's going to work to have you live here," he told her evenly, hoping a deeper discussion would snap her out of her daze a little.

"But you told me not to…" she barely replied.

"I told you not to have sex or do stuff like that. I didn't tell you to lock yourself away for three days," he scolded.

His reprimanding tone made her shrink slightly. "You said…" she thought for a second, "no sexual activity," she quoted.

"That's what I said," he confirmed, annoyed.

"Look, I know I probably should have done the ninja thing and go behind your back to get some while you're gone but I wanted to see if I could do what you asked."

He frowned and even through his scarf she could see it.

"Is that what you wanted?"

"It was one of my expected outcomes," he admitted.

"Are you disappointed?"

"I haven't decided yet. You still haven't told me why you didn't at least leave the house," he pointed out.

"Better safe than sorry," she shrugged. "Besides, you gave me Sasuke. I wasn't completely alone."

"You would have been if it wasn't for him though," he muttered.

"I've been shut up before, way worse than this too. At least this time I knew I could step outside and get a breath of fresh air if I needed it. That hammock of yours is quite comfortable once you get the knack for sitting in it," she pointed out in a tired, but playful voice.

"So you did do _something_ while I was gone," he teased, feeling a little more relieved that his patience with her was seeming to bring her out of her stupor.

"It was almost nice to spend some time by myself with nothing particular to do for a while. It's been so long since I've been by myself I think I almost forgot what it was like but-" then she stopped herself.

"But what?"

"It's not important, please," she nearly pleaded.

"After all that, I'd really rather you tell me," he coaxed.

"Just that the memories come back quickly. I saw so many things here that reminded me of other places I had stayed for lengths of time."

"It appears that old habits come back quickly as well," he sighed.

"And he was like so many of the others…" she started to trail off again.

"Hey, listen, why don't you take a shower, put on something nice, and we'll go get something to eat, okay?" he hopefully proposed.

"Sure, I could use a little placating right now anyway," she sighed, swinging her legs off the chair.

"Now, now, it's not nice to belittle my efforts so bluntly," he teased.

"I'm s-" she almost apologized but stopped herself in time. "Of course," she nodded politely and started to stand only to find that her legs were so tired from sitting in the same position for so long that they wouldn't carry her weight.

"How long were you sitting in that chair?" he asked as he watched her try and fail again.

"This chair?" she distractedly asked when she managed to get to her unsteady feet.

"Yes, that chair," he motioned again for emphasis.

She stared at it for what seemed like forever before answering. "I don't remember," she admitted and tried to leave but stumbled.

"You really are impossible," Kakashi told her as he scooped her up into his arms.

"I'm s-" she almost did it again. "I know," she replied with a sad little smile. "Lucky you."

He drew her a bath and helped her into the tub before going off to start some tea. The bathroom and kitchen weren't very far apart; in fact, they shared a wall, so he left the door open and they talked while she bathed and he cooked.

"I'm sorry it was Sasuke that I got to check up on you," he half-lied. "Is there someone else you would have preferred?"

"Anyone else in the world?" she scoffed.

"Oh? I didn't realize there was such a divide between you," he lied. "But that doesn't really help me any."

"If Sakura-san ever speaks of me, what kinds of things does she say? Are they good things? Bad things? Perhaps she avoids the subject entirely. I wouldn't blame her for that," she babbled.

"If she speaks, she speaks well of you. I think I've even heard her stand up to Sasuke on your behalf at least once," he mused.

"Really?" she awed.

"Of course. Sakura-chan is a very sensitive person."

"Then why not ask her?"

"I wanted him to get an opportunity to get to know you. I thought it would make things easier between you," he reasoned. "And since you said he was mildly reactive to you before, I thought he would make a suitable temptation."

She gave a groan of frustration. "'Kashi-sensai, can I tell you a secret?" she asked carefully.

"Of course."

"Sasuke will probably kill me if he finds out I told you this but…more happened during my trip here with them than just him being kinda awkwardly attracted to me," she admitted.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and mentally slapped himself for not realizing it himself. Then, with little prompting, he was able to get her to rehash the story for him in vivid detail.

"That was…detailed," he blushed and was glad she couldn't see him. "Tell me, do you remember all your encounters so vividly?" he half-joked.

"Wouldn't it be rude to Sasuke for me to simply dismiss everything that happened between us even though, or perhaps because, it was such an intimate experience? He doesn't deserve to be forgotten," she sighed. "I'll save the forgetting for others who deserve it more."

"But you were just complaining about how mean he was to you."

"It's because he's still attracted to me. Now it seems he can't help it," she told him guiltily, glad that she didn't have to look anyone in the eye while saying it.

"Are you sure it's just him?" Kakashi chided.

"Unfortunately for him, I don't have anything metaphysical to do with it this time." She giggled a little. "It's a little funny actually, sometimes. For a while there he thought it was still me messing with him, this time on purpose."

Kakashi tried not to laugh. "You should have said something about seducing him during that mission," he pointed out.

"I didn't seduce him. Seduction is an active action. But, more importantly, to what end? It wouldn't have helped anybody. It would have only caused more damage. I'm only telling you now because it's relevant. If I had known you were setting us up like that before you left, I would have said something then," she told him.

"I see," he muttered.

"Please, don't punish him for not saying anything. He was so embarrassed and he already hates me enough as it is," she regretfully remembered.

"We'll see," he eased.

"You might teach him how to flirt though," she playfully grumbled.

"Sasuke has his ways. He's more used to beating the girls off than trying to lead them on though," he told her.

"I had started to notice that. Which is another reason I feel bad about what happened. Sakura-san knew and she let us go, no told us to go. I think she just wanted to get it over with. I know she has a great deal of affection for him that runs deeper than most of the girls that follow him."

"When you put it like that you two might have more in common than you think," Kakashi mused.

"Just try telling him that," she laughed and then started slightly at the whistle of the tea kettle.

"Are you almost finished?" Kakashi poked his head in after taking it off the heat.

"Y-yeah," she distractedly replied. "Are you sure you wanna go out?" she carefully asked.

"Why? Would you rather stay in tonight?"

"Oh, no. It's not that," she managed. "But…aren't you worried about me embarrassing you?"

He wouldn't have heard her if not for the echo created by the bathroom walls. "I thought you would have realized by now that I am extremely difficult to embarrass."

"It's just that I'm still a little socially awkward sometimes…"

"I've got your back, don't worry. I won't let you embarrass yourself," he tossed a towel at her. "Tea's ready, come on."

"Yeah, sure."

She dried their hair as they sipped and chatted. "Why are you taking me out tonight?" she asked curiously.

"Because it has become obvious to me how important social interaction is for you," he answered.

"Oh…" she sighed. "Didn't it say anything about that in all those papers they gave you? I mean, the longest they ever left me completely alone was a few hours."

"It did, but sometimes those old fogies like to exaggerate. My object was to test your limits and see how well you've adjusted to 'life on the outside' as you call it," he told her.

"Of course. I don't suppose I did very well," she surmised from the series of disappointed looks he gave her earlier.

"I'm not sure. I'm tempted to say that you had an easier time being sociable when I first met you."

She laughed at that. "Well, look at it this way. Before, I knew how other people felt, often not just about me but in general. Now, I'm flying blind."

He nodded at her reasoning. "That doesn't explain why you avoided going out like you did. It's not logical considering what a lack of social interaction does to you."

"It's like I said before. Better safe than sorry."

"You didn't think you could avoid a sexual encounter?" he surmised, somewhat incredulously.

"While I don't know anybody here, a good number of them seem to at least know of me and that leads to…expectations. I'm sort of stuck then between slut and tease no matter what I do."

"We'll work on that, don't worry," he eased.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me. I was probably easier to deal with before," she gave a sad laugh.

"Hey, what did I tell you about apologizing?" he playfully snapped at her.

"Oh yeah," she gave him an odd look that told him she wanted to say she was sorry for apologizing but knew better. "So, where are we going?"

"Oh, I know a little place," he vaguely motioned.

She smiled a little and considered pretending that he was taking her out because that's what he wanted to do.

They left a short while later. She wanted to walk arm in arm with him especially when they strolled through some of the busier parts of town but decided against it.

"Tell me, Calixta, are you happy here?" he asked suddenly.

"Happy?" she repeated strangely. "I'd have to say that I've been the happiest here since I was when I was child."

"That doesn't like sound you're very pleased."

"I'm still getting comfortable in my own skin. I haven't even decided yet if I'm happy with myself. How can I know if other things make me happy if I don't know that first?" she proposed to him.

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation.

"I'm as happy as I've ever been…but I can't help thinking there more than what I've tasted," she told him quietly.

That made a lot more sense to him and put him at ease. "Here we are. It's just a raman cart but they make the best in the village," he boasted.

"What do you mean _just_ a ramen cart?" the old lady behind the counter scolded.

"My apologies. I meant no offense," Kakashi bowed slightly to emphasize his sincerity.

"I know," she teased him. "Who's your lovely lady friend?" the woman inquired knowingly.

"This is Calixta. She's from-" then he paused for a moment to turn to her. "Well, I know you've been many places. Where do you call home?"

She faltered for a moment. "I-…I hope to someday call this place my home," she shyly admitted and at that the old woman was overwhelmingly endeared.

"Have a seat, my dear. I'll make you something special," she told her and started cooking without waiting for confirmation.

"Anything will be wonderful, I'm sure," she took her seat.

"I'm sure," Kakashi laughed, "You've cooked everything we've eaten since you started staying with me."

"Kakashi-san!" the old woman scolded. "You're living together? And you make her do all your cooking? What kind of scoundrel are you?" she demanded and even though her tone was authoritative, it was also somewhat playful.

"It's not like that. Calixta here is something of a student of mine and she has no where else to stay," he managed but the woman didn't seem to be buying his 'good intentions'.

"The elders arranged it," Calixta interrupted.

"And I'm sure he's a terrible cook," the old woman playfully chided.

"I'm attempting to keep her from that tragedy as long as possible," he admitted.

Their conversation would have kept their light tone from there had not another teacher and his students decided to stop for dinner as well.

"Ah, Kakashi-san! What a surprise!" Guy greeted heartily.

"Who's that girl?" Lee whispered to his teammates.

"That must be that weird girl Team 7 took in," Tenten whispered back.

"She doesn't look that weird," Lee observed.

"Perhaps she is Kakashi-sensai's girlfriend," Neji dryly contributed, eliciting slight giggles from his teammates.

"Good evening, Guy, kids," he nodded to them.

"I haven't seen you since that day in the meeting hall," Guy observed, sitting a few feet from Calixta.

Kakashi shot him a look that said, "What are you doing?" but didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, as I was unable to see at the time, I do not recognize you," she told him.

"Now, now, Calixta, you did it again," Kakashi scolded, slapping the back of her hand with his chopsticks. "And this time you were a little snotty about it which doesn't help at all."

"Ow, okay," she shook her hand and rubbed her knuckles.

Team Guy gave the pair varying looks of incredulity.

"She didn't do anything," Lee attempted to defend her.

"You're not allowed to apologize?" Guy surmised, not taking his eyes off the young woman.

"I'm afraid not and that is the second slip I've made today," she admitted.

"It's okay. It's been a long day," Kakashi eased.

"Why not?" Lee interrupted.

Tantan just shook her head in exasperation, allowing Neji to field the question. "If she does it all the time, it would be annoying."

The two adults present tried to ignore the remark while his two teammates turned their eyes to Calixta to see if she was offended. Quite the contrary. She was laughing a little at what he said which sufficiently diffused the tension.

"Regardless, I am Guy and these are my students: Lee, Tantan, and Neji," he introduced valiantly.

She gave Guy an odd look and then tried to go back to eating.

"What was that look for?" the man in the bowl cut couldn't let it go.

"I do not wish to do anything that would make you look anything less than stunning to your students so I'd like to let this go," she told him evenly.

Kakashi shook his head, making a mental note to let her know that in those situations, it's okay not to speak one's mind, that it just might be better to say it was nothing.

Guy eyed his students whose attentions had obviously been piqued. "I appreciate your respect for my students but a stranger's remarks won't effect them so greatly. They respect me more than that," he boasted and Lee readily agreed with matched enthusiasm.

"I was just wondering…were you one of the other three volunteers?"

"No, I'm afraid I wasn't," shook his head, still smiling.

She nodded. "I didn't think so," she made a quick glance at the students who were listening while they ate before looking back up into the green-clad man's eyes. "Did you knees meet the ground during my little…exhibition?" she asked almost innocently.

The three students gasped.

"Calixta!" Kakashi scolded. "Guy, I'm really sorry. Don't dignify that with a response," he advised.

"No, Kakashi, it's okay. I'll answer her. Yeah, I fell that morning. I wasn't expecting the way your chakra hit me but I can guarantee it won't ever happen again," he promised proudly.

The strange young woman gave a respectful bow and let it go because she knew she was in enough trouble already. She and Kakashi finished their meals a few minutes later and took their leave.

"So, how out of line was I?" she asked almost hopefully.

"When you say it like that, it makes me think you're rude on purpose," Kakashi warned.

"Perhaps a little but I have to test my boundaries somehow…especially since you don't approve of me seeking inward solace," she reasoned.

"What you call inward solace, most people call behavior indicative of mental illness," he pointed out.

She laughed at him. "Do you think I was too rude?"

"Actually, you really were out of line. I don't really care that you asked him that. I do care that you did it in front of his students. That's inappropriate," he told her harshly.

"Shall I apologize to him?" she asked honestly.

"Not yet," he shrugged and then when they were a little over half way back to his home, he told her to go back and say she was sorry.

Team Guy was just getting up to walk away from the ramen cart when she caught up with them. "Guy-sensai!" she called after them.

"Did you forget something?" Guy taunted, making his students laugh.

"I was extremely rude to you. I apologize," she bowed slightly and broke eye contact.

"Forget about it," he dismissed and led his students away.

"Sensai, that girl was really weird," Lee complained.

"She is an odd young lady but through no fault of her own. She's apparently still learning how to get along with people, that's all."

"She tried to insult you," Neji interjected.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. He wasn't sure that was the case because he got the impression that if she really wanted to embarrass him, she very well could have or, at the very least, made a much better show of it than she did. "Perhaps she was testing my boundaries…or maybe even her own boundaries. After all, Kakashi didn't send her back to apologize until well after they had the opportunity to talk about what she said."

"What makes her so different anyway?" Tantan carefully questioned.

"We'll save that discussion for another time. Tonight, you guys need to get some sleep. We have a mission in the morning, remember?"

* * *

On her way back to catch up with Kakashi, Calixta literally ran into someone. It was Ebisu. She hadn't noticed him because he had just turned the corner and he would have noticed her sooner if not for the sunglasses he was still wearing. She was moving so quickly and he was paying so little attention that she knocked him over, landing square on top of him.

"Oh, my goodness! I am so sorry!" she apologized without thinking and this time didn't even notice. "Are you okay?"

At first he was stunned by the sudden assault, now he was gawking at her. "Um, well…yeah. Yeah, I think I'm okay," he sort of stammered, hoping his nose wouldn't start to bleed as he peeked down her shirt at her ample bosom. "What about you? You were in quite a hurry."

"I was just trying to catch up with someone but, yeah, I'm okay," she replied, not really thinking that they were still laying on the ground where they fell until people started to stare a bit. "Oh, geeze," she stood and brushed herself off before offering him a hand to stand up. "I'm such a clutz. I get to thinking about stupid stuff and forget to look where I'm going."

"It's quite alright," he managed. "I wasn't paying very much attention either so I'd say we're both at fault then."

She laughed with him and their mood lightened.

"Where were you going in such a hurry so late? That is, if you don't mind me asking," he tried.

"I was on my way back to where I'm staying," she vaguely replied, wondering if he realized who she was. She hadn't seen him around before but he obviously wasn't new to the village. "Well, I was trying to catch up with somebody…but they're probably already there by now," she laughed a little at herself when she realized that she wasn't quite sure why she had been running in the first place.

"Are they waiting for you?" Ebisu tried to hide his disappointment.

"Well, not really," she told him with a strange tone he couldn't identify. That was because of the warring notions behind the idea that Kakashi was there and he was waiting for her but not _waiting for her_. There was disappointment, frustration, and anguish but there was also a newly foreign sense of freedom and pleasure.

"Might I walk you there then?" he boldly proposed, hoping not to blush too much.

She gave a wide smile. "Yeah, okay. That would be nice."

Ebisu thought his heart was going to stop for a moment. "So…you were going this way?" he asked almost stupidly as he pointed in the direction he'd been knocked.

"Um, yeah, I'm staying with…my instructor for the time being," she elaborated carefully.

He nodded in approval. "What's your name?"

"Calixta," she replied simply. "And yours?"

"Ebisu," he answered.

"How can you walk around in those sunglasses? It's so dark!" she teased.

Actually, he was still wearing them to disguise the fact that he had been out for a few drinks before heading home. "You get used to it," he replied.

She shrugged.

"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new to the Hidden Leaf Village?" he couldn't help asking.

"I'm only recently come to this community in the last month or so," she told him.

"No wonder I haven't seen you. I was laid up sick for a while there."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, the healers here are great. It just took a little time. I'm all better now," he boasted.

"That's good to know," she smiled because she already knew that and possibly better than he did. "What about you?"

"I've lived here most of my life," he told her. Then, he couldn't help staring at her a little.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked politely.

"Oh, no," he blushed and looked away. "It's just that…I hope you don't mind me saying…you're very pretty."

Her smile waned slightly but only for a moment. "I do mind. But thank you," she eased and carefully slipped her hand around his arm.

Ebisu could feel his heart racing as she touched him.

"We're almost there. Just down this way," she guided.

When they turned Ebisu felt his heart flip-flop again. There was only one instructor he knew that lived the direction she was leading them. "So…you're instructor is Kakashi?" he carefully surmised.

"Indeed."

"What do you think of him?" he couldn't help asking.

"It's not my place to evaluate him," she pointed out.

He found her answer a little too respectful. "That's not really what I mean. I was just wondering what kind of impression you had of him. Do you get along with him?" he tried again.

"Well enough," she shrugged.

He frowned.

"He's not mean or rude if that's what you're asking," she almost laughed.

"Oh, no. Of course not," he covered even though that had sort of been what he was asking. "I know Kakashi. He's a good man."

She nodded. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?" he started at the sudden question.

"What kind of a person are you?" she asked again.

"Oh," he laughed a little. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm just kind of a dork," he admitted and the endeared smile he received made him lose his thoughts.

"And here we are." she said when they reached the bottom step.

"So we are," he disappointedly observed.

For a moment she looked pensively between the house and her companion, deciding what she should do. Unfortunately, before she could say good night and give him his chance to steal a kiss from her, Kakashi poked his head out.

"Are you two going to stand out there all night?" he teasingly interrupted before they could get any further.

"Ah! Kakashi-sensai," she greeted suddenly and without thinking took a small step away from the man standing with her. "I was just about to come inside," she told him.

Ebisu, though he felt a little awkward in the situation as it was, felt more strange about how tight a leach the younger, though often more mature, man appeared to keep this young girl on. "Good evening, Kakashi-san," he greeted.

"Good evening," the silver-haired man greeted the older man. "Calixta, were you going to invite your company inside?"

"I-Inside?" she repeated, obviously not expecting that sort of invitation. Then she looked at Ebisu, "Would you like to come in, I guess?" she asked shyly.

"If you'd rather I didn't, that's perfectly fine," he told her evenly.

His willingness to retract gave her some confidence. "Please, come in," she requested quietly before leading him in.

"Ebisu," Kakashi nodded when the older man entered his home. "I just started a kettle, have a seat."

As they sat and chatted, the pair recalled how they met for the curious, if not concerned, instructor who seemed to approve of the ordeal. However, once he was finished with his cup, Kakashi attempted to take his leave of them. His student and the older man seemed to be hitting it off and he wanted to give her the chance to socialize unsupervised.

"It has been a rather long day. I'm going to retire for the evening," Kakashi announced as he stood.

Calixta gave her instructor an unsure look.

"Unless there's something you need of me," he told her when he saw the look.

She eyed Ebisu carefully for a moment. "Pardon me just a moment, please," she bowed politely and led Kakashi far enough away so that they would not but heard conversing.

"Are you setting me up again?" she carefully accused.

"My dear, I don't set you up. You set yourself up. Don't forget that. And you were the one who brought him here."

"He walked me home," she desperately reasoned.

"He likes you," Kakashi shrugged.

Calixta almost glared at him.

"I'm going to be up for a while if you need me," he told her and walked away.

Ebisu desperately wanted to ask what that was all about but he knew better. By now, he could tell there was something unusual about her, aside from the fact that she was stunningly attractive, and whatever that something was made her relationship with Kakashi complicated.

However, much of his anxiety left when she retuned to sit with him because she sat much closer than she had before.

"Hey, sorry about that," she froze for a second because this time she actually caught her slip and wondered if she should do anything about it. Since Kakashi didn't appear out of nowhere to scold her for it, she decided to let it go. "Every village is so different. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

He noticed her sudden hesitation but she continued before he could say anything about it. "I understand. Where are you from anyway?" he couldn't help asking.

She bit her lip for a moment. "I…I'd rather not say," she told him, a little bit of the pain in her chest seeping into her voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize," he tried to cover.

"No, you're fine. It's a simple question. Let's just say that I haven't been there in so long that I'm not sure it would be right to call it home," she admitted.

"So you're a wanderer then," he teasingly surmised, hoping to lighten the mood again. "How exciting."

She laughed a little at his teasing in spite of herself, only just realizing how nice it was to speak with someone who didn't take her very seriously. Well, that wasn't entirely true. It was clear that he respected her but that didn't mean he was going to let her make him all stuffy or serious. "I suppose you could say that," she agreed with a nod.

Their conversation was much more causal from there and lasted another half an hour before Ebisu took his leave for the evening but not before attempting to make sure their paths would cross again. He wasn't able to get a date out of her but he was sure that if they saw each other again, she wouldn't hesitate to approach him.

Then, after clearing the table, she stripped down and knocked on Kakashi's bedroom door.

"Enter," he called.

She did, to find him shirtlessly reclined on his bed reading a dirty manga. He didn't look up at her so she went over and pulled the book from his hands. As she carefully set it on his night stand in such a way as to save his place in the book, she caught him watching her out of the corner of her eye. Just as she felt he was about to say something, she put her fingers over his covered lips. "No talking, okay?" she tried but she felt him frown. "Not 'till we're done," she added and finished the process he'd started of undressing him.

He was obviously intrigued by her sudden aggressive attempt at dominance. Well, near dominance. They both knew she was smart enough not to actually try to overthrow him but after the last few days culminated through the events of that day gave her the desire to assert herself. At first, he considered putting her in her place again but after everything that happened it was painfully apparent that she would concede to him and most likely without any real resistance.

So, instead, he decided to continue the theme of the evening and let her do as she pleased. He even helped her by slipping off his pants when once she got them undone. It was only when he was naked with her, save that damn bandanna covering his eye, that she noticed he was fully erect. She made a quick glance at the book on the bedside stand and wondered if his readiness for her was intentional or incidental. Not that she was going to ask.

Rather, she skipped foreplay almost completely as she straddled his lap. A moment later, she was lowering herself onto him, a sign that she was all too ready as well. They remained nearly silent through this but that ended abruptly when their bodies became flush with one another and she started to roll her hips in rhythmic circles against his. This caused them both to groan deeply and before he knew it, her lips were crashing down onto his with a kind of passion that he hadn't seen in her before.

Her passion nearly overwhelmed him and a moment later, he was gripping her generous hips and moving with her toward satisfaction. It was strange. After everything that happened, he half-expected her to let go of the tight reign she'd had on her chakra, either accidentally or on purpose, and attempt to use it on him. And since, he had no intention of fighting her in the least, she could have done so easily.

However, that was not the case. She was coming at him with everything she physically had but that was it. There was an almost eerie absence of chakra behind what she was doing. Regardless, there was still that electrical feeling whenever their skin touched, which was a near constant sensation for him at this point.

Then a little while later, just when he thought that she had started an electrical fire in his brain, he came inside her with a forceful grunt. She gave a satisfied sigh and rolled off him almost immediately in favor of laying her head on one of his pillows beside him.

"I heard you apologize to him," Kakashi pointed out.

She gave him a funny little look. "I know. I didn't catch myself before I said it and I thought it would make things more awkward if I explained so I let it go. Is that okay?"

"I'll let it go this time."

"So, you were listening to us?" she surmised.

"No. I just heard that part before I closed the door," he answered honestly.

"Why did you do that anyway?"

"Do what, exactly?"

"Have him come inside and then leave us alone. Was it some kind of test or something?"

"I'm not testing you any more than usual," he half-teased. "Besides, far be it for me to cut short the first normal interaction I've seen you have with another person."

Calixta appeared startled. "Really? Did I do okay?"

Kakashi laughed at her for not realizing it herself. "Ebisu seemed to think you did just fine. Tell me, did you happen to work any of your special magic on him? He looked especially charmed by you," commented playfully.

"Of course not!" she nudged him.

"Why not make a move on'em? I'm sure he wouldn't have minded."

She blushed a little. "I thought normal relationships didn't start that way," she countered.

"Some do. Some don't," he shrugged.

"Well, I don't think that's how I wanted that one to start," she answered with more resolution than she thought she could muster.

"Fair enough. What did Guy say when you apologized to him like I asked you to?"

"He told me to forget about it."

Kakashi nodded. "He's usually pretty good about stuff like that," he yawned. It was clear that her mind was still racing but she didn't really want to elaborate on her feelings at the moment. "Why don't we call it a night."

"Just one more thing, before I forget," she stopped him.

"What's that?"

"Sasuke asked me to speak with Naruto about the nature of my abilities. It seems he's been pestering people about it."

"Well, if he's going to hear it, wouldn't you rather him hear it from you?" he surmised.

"Of course, Kakashi-sensai. Thank you, I had a good time tonight."

"Good. Sleep well." he wished as she exited.

* * *

A couple days later, when Naruto came to Kakashi's house one afternoon without the others, he gave her the chance to try to set things straight. To her relief, as she observed him before her attempt, she noticed that he had matured rather significantly in the months since they first met and she hoped that would make her job a little easier.

"Naruto-san," she began carefully.

"Yeah, what is it?" he perked up because the honorific she used was more respectful than he was used to hearing.

"I…wanted to talk to you about something," she gave a quick glance at Kakashi, who gave an encouraging nod.

"Sure, what is it?" he eagerly asked.

"Well…I've heard that you're…curious about my abilities," she hedged.

"Yeah, of course I am! You know that!" he enthusiastically replied.

"Well…if you'd like, I could take sometime now to try to explain them, at least a little, for you," she tried.

"That's be great!" he leaned forward.

"Perfect," she mused dryly at his enthusiasm. "Can I ask you a few things first, though?" she tried.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Naruto, have you ever had feelings for someone that were different from friends or family, maybe more than that?"

He thought for a long moment. "I don't know what you're asking," he admitted, much to her disappointment.

"Naruto-kun, have you ever had a crush on someone?" Kakashi fielded.

"Why? What's that got to do with-?" he defensively sat back.

"I just want to know if you've ever had that feeling before," Calixta tried to ease.

"It looks by that reaction that he has," Kakashi surmised playfully.

"Do you know what made that crush feeling different from other ways you've liked people?" she continued her questioning.

Naruto thought for another long moment but this time generated a more sufficient answer than the first time. "They're…deeper, like in here," he pointed to his chest.

She was oddly pleased by his answered even though it wasn't quite what she was looking for. "That's great," she smiled warmly and unwittingly made his heart flutter a little. "Anything else?" she prompted.

"I dunno. What're you getting at?" Naruto tried to circumvent the logical progression and skip right to her conclusion.

She pursed her lips. "Do you ever want to do certain things with a crush that you wouldn't with, say friends or family?" she tried again.

Naruto's eyes narrowed in playful suspicion, "You mean pervert stuff?" he bluntly surmised.

She blushed a little. "Yeah, like that," and then to throw him a bone for being so cooperative, "and since you know what I'm talking about, you don't have to answer that last question."

"So you're a pervert. How's that make you any different that every other grown-up?" Naruto haughtily challenged.

She almost laughed at him. "Most of my abilities…are centered around making other people have those kinds of perverted feelings," she admitted to him.

"Why would you want to have abilities like that?" he scoffed.

"Trust me when I say I didn't. It just started happening one day and I didn't even know what was going on. It's pretty much under control now though, right?" she looked at Kakashi.

"Yeah, that's right," he confirmed.

"Huh. Ya know, I have a jutsu kinda like that," Naruto mused.

"You do?" she blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, check it out," he smiled.

Kakashi was about to stop his rambunctious student but wasn't quite quick enough to act before the puff of smoke.

"See?" a very female and very naked Naruto cooed at her.

Calixta's eyes grew wide as saucers. "N-N-Naru..to?" she barely choked out.

Naruto laughed at her. "Hah, looks like you really are a pervert! This usually doesn't work on girls!" he giggled and pointed to the slight trickle of blood running down from her nose.

"Well, well," Kakashi marveled. That certainly gave him a lot to think about, and for more than one reason. "Naruto, why don't you give Calixta a quick kiss to thank her for sharing so much with you and change back?"

"Yes, Sensai," he winked at his teacher and turned back to the stunned young woman still staring stupidly at him. With a slight smirk, he leaned forward and lightly brushed their lips together before pulling back and changing back with another puff of smoke.

Calixta sat in incredulous shock. "What was that?" she said after a moment.

"That's my Sexy-no-jutsu," Naruto bragged, deciding to save the harem-jutsu for another time.

"Here," Kakashi handed her a tissue when it looked like the little stream from her nose was about to drip onto her clothes.

"Oh, yes, thank you," she blushed and finally tore her eyes from the blonde. "Why can you do that?" she asked the blonde suddenly.

"What do you mean why?" Naruto laughed a little.

Kakashi answered for him, "Among many uses, generally, it's used as a distractionary technique when the situation requires a more creative touch."

"I see…" she eyed Naruto carefully again before smiling.

"So you can turn anybody into a pervert?" the young man asked, obviously intrigued by the idea.

"Well, sort of, yeah. I guess that's pretty much it," she admitted.

"That's weird," he laughed a little. "But everybody has their thing, right?"

"That's right," Kakashi agreed readily.

She smiled and they felt the fluttering in their chests again.

"So, is that why I feel all funny when you smile at me sometimes?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"You what?" she carefully tried to clarify.

"Yes, we're still working on that," Kakashi told his younger student.

"What?" Calixta demanded.

"I wasn't sure if you realized you were doing it," Kakashi told her.

"Doing what?" she continued to demand.

"Well, it seems that when you feel a certain way about somebody, it sometimes can be felt by that person," Kakashi elaborated.

"That's impossible," she dismissed. "I'm in control of that now."

Kakashi's eyes softened. "This is a little different than what you've been working on," he tried to ease.

"How is it different? It sounds exactly the same!" she was nearly panicking now.

"Whoah, Calixta, settle down," Naruto tried to soothe. "It wasn't like a bad feelin' or anything and I didn't feel like a pervert for it, I promise."

"Naruto, please," Kakashi pushed him back away from her a little. "This is completely different. Before you were channeling other people's feelings."

"And now?" she incredulously prompted.

"Now, I can't say for sure, but I think we're feeling what you're feeling. Not a lot, and only sometimes," he theorized.

"What I'm feeling?" she repeated with near horror.

"Please, settle down. This isn't serious, at least not as serious as you're taking it," he told her evenly.

"I don't want other people to feel what I feel. No one should have to feel the way I do," she weakly protested.

"Hey now," Naurto interjected, much to his teacher's displeasure. "What I felt wasn't bad. Actually, it was kinda nice," he told her. "It felt like…like a hug but from the inside," he tried.

Actually, when she had smiled at them, she had wanted to embrace the younger man but held back. "You might be right," she turned to Kakashi with a serious face. "We have to find a way to stop it," she told him.

Naruto was obviously displeased by her reaction, or what he perceived as an overreaction.

"I really don't think it's worth worrying about at this point. It only seems to happen to people that you're pretty close to anyway, people who have something of a right to know how you feel," Kakashi reasoned.

She appeared crestfallen. "I worked so hard. I thought I was there. Well, not there, but as close to there as I've ever been. Now this?" she felt hot tears stinging her eyes.

"Calixta," Naruto interrupted her self destructive reverie, "I don't know where you're going but you're here right now and everything I've seen has told me that you're a good person. Maybe it doesn't matter where you are, just that you have good people to get there with," he lectured.

Her brow furrowed and her frown deepened. Then, her eyes closed tightly, allowing the tears to run down her face. She gave a heavy sigh and suddenly relaxed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Besides, if you're really working that hard you shouldn't beat yourself up. No matter what you do, there will always be more. That's how it is for everybody," he told her.

That last bit really got through to her and she reached out to pull the young man into a warm embrace as she had wanted to before. This time, they didn't feel any strange feelings from her.

"Thank you," she whispered into his hair as she held him tight.

He accepted the embrace initially but when he shifted and she didn't let up, he tried to pull away. "Hey, it's okay, really. Come on, lemme go," he pleaded playfully.

She gave him another tight squeeze, not really realizing that she was smushing his face into her breasts, before letting him go.

A small part of Naruto wanted to keep his face right where it was but the rest of him took the chance to withdraw and left a short while later.

"That was interesting," Kakashi mused.

"Why didn't you say anything if you were getting feelings from me?" she asked.

"At first I wasn't even sure what it was. Then I wanted to see if you were doing it on purpose or not. Now that you know about it, you should be able to control it a little better," he offered. "More importantly, what a reaction to Naruto's sexy jutsu!" he teased.

She blushed deeply. "I don't know what came over me," she stammered. "I've never behaved like that before."

Kakashi laughed a little. "I believe you. Why didn't you tell me you liked women so much?" he pressed.

"What? I don't know. It never came up. Is it important?" she asked almost guiltily.

Kakashi smirked. "It just makes things much more interesting," he told her before turning female himself.

She gasped and her nose started to bleed again. "Don't do that!...at least…not without warning me first!" she stomped her foot.

"Aww…" he cooed. "Don't be so cross. Here, come here," he grabbed her hand led her close.

She had that strangely stupid look on her face again as the distance between them grew smaller.

"Hello?" he waved a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Calixta!" he tried.

She just nodded in agreement and finished the motion of pressing their bodies together.

This greatly concerned Kakashi, who had only hoping for a bit of fun. He took her by the shoulders and shook her. "Calixta! What's the matter?"

"Nothing…You're very pretty," she idly commented.

With a sigh of disappointment, Kakashi transformed back and a few startled blinks later, she gave him an odd look.

"What happened?" he asked when she seemed to be reoriented.

"I-I dunno. It was strange, like my brain, well the thinking part of my brain, shut off," she told him.

"It seems you have a very interesting reaction to jutsus that fit into the same category as your own," he mused. "It sounds like you experienced something very similar to what that of those you encountered before your training."

"That's what it feels like?" she awed.

"Didn't they do any tests like that while you were with the elders?" Kakashi questioned.

"A few, but they said nothing ever came of it," she shrugged.

"Well, we can't say for sure that's what they felt. That's just a guess."

That left her wondering. "Do it again," she requested breathily.

"What?" he blinked incredulously down at her.

"Please, do it again," she urged.

"But why?" he tried.

"It felt…good not to think so much," she admitted. "Please, just this once," she added when he looked unsure. "You need to study the phenomenon more closely anyway, right?" she pleaded.

With a reluctant sigh, he changed back again and watched in amazement because he could practically see all substantial thought leave her mind.


	4. Crosstraining

One afternoon, later that week, Team 7 and Team Guy met up, along with the other teams of their rank, at an academy assembly. While the boys were content to spend their free time harassing one another, Tantan and Sakura sat on the side and had a friendly conversation.

"We got to meet Calixta the other night," Tantan began, "the girl staying with Kakashi-sensai."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura carefully prompted. Word of her existence in their village had already spread quite a bit but it was only now that people were starting to ask them about her.

"Yeah," she explained the situation.

"That sounds nice," Sakura managed.

"Yeah, she seemed pretty nice, a little weird, but pretty nice," Tantan conceded.

"If you ask me, everyone around here is a little weird," Sakura joked and they both giggled because it was true.

"But seriously, Sakura, is she okay?"

"What do mean?"

"I dunno. I just got a…weird impression from her," Tantan told her with a shrug. "I can't really put my finger on it and Lee and Neji don't ever want to talk about it."

That admission made Sakura wonder about her comrade but she knew better than to question her sexuality, they weren't that close and even if they were, this wasn't the venue for that sort of conversation. "Yeah, she's got some…issues she's still working out. That's why she doesn't live by herself, I think," she explained.

Tantan nodded. "She's pretty strong, isn't she?" she pressed.

"Strong?" Sakura repeated as she considered the word. "Not really strong. She's really powerful but only sometimes," she managed.

"It sounds like you've gotten to know her pretty well."

"She doesn't exactly have very many friends so she talks to me sometimes when we're at Sensai's house," Sakura answered.

"That sounds kind of nice," Tantan thought aloud.

"You think so?" Sakura wondered if the other girl would think it was so nice if she knew the whole story.

"Yeah. Well, I mean I like when we talk but we hardly ever see each other. It would be nice to have another girl to talk to sometimes, especially an older girl," she explained.

Sakura understood that because in that regard, her and Tantan were in practically the same situation, except Tantan didn't fancy Neji the way Sakura liked Sasuke. Other than that, however, they were essentially the same. She nodded. "Maybe we could hang out sometime," she vaguely suggested and then started to regret it because of how seriously the other girl accepted.

"That would be great. I would like that a lot."

"I'll see what I can do then."

Then, Naruto, with Lee close behind, barged into their conversation. "Hey, what're you two bein' so quiet over here about?" he playfully accused.

"I bet they're talking about boys," Neji condescendingly interjected as he appeared out of nowhere. "That's what girls talk about when they get together, right?"

"Really, Tantan, how can you stand to work with someone so…inconsiderate," Sakura snapped, not looking at the cursed young man.

"It's not inconsiderate if it's true," Sasuke suddenly said from behind them.

"I don't know, Sakura, how do you stand it?" Tantan quietly grumbled before answering the original question. "I was just asking Sakura about that Calixta girl," she told him.

There were discernable reactions in three of the teenage boys present. Only Naruto was uneffected by the sudden strange reaction to her name and so, took the opportunity to speak.

"Yeah, she's pretty weird sometimes, but she's alright," the blonde dismissed.

"Don't you mean, she's pretty weird but she's alright sometimes," Sasuke rudely interjected.

Sakura gave a sigh of disgust and shook her head in exasperation. "She's just fine," she tried to dismiss.

"She was really rude to Guy-sensai," Lee pointed out.

"Disrespectful," Neji correctingly agreed.

"See, it's not just me," Sasuke asserted.

"It's not her! It's you guys!" Sakura nearly yelled and everyone got quiet.

"What do you mean?" Tantan asked her friend nicely before the others could demand it with less tact.

Sakura looked around. "The assembly's going to start soon. There isn't time to explain it," she dismissed and stood.

"That's not fair. You can't say things like that and then not explain them," Lee scolded.

"She always gets like this when we try to talk about Calixta," Naruto dismissed and let her pass without obstruction. "But from what I hear, she's only a problem if you're a pervert already anyway," Naruto added and then followed her.

Sasuke, not wanting to be the next target of their questions, made a small "Hm," sound and disappeared.

"That was weird," Lee mused and then the assembly was called to order.

***

At the same assembly, Kakashi had an opportunity to speak with Guy.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about the other night," he began.

"Hey, like I told Calixta, forget about it. Besides, it's at least partially my own fault for mentioning it in the first place," he conceded.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Though, now my team's askin' about her now. You've left me with a good deal to either explain or ignore and frankly, I'm not comfortable with either."

"I know what you mean. She only just explained herself to Naruto."

"Oh yeah? How'd it go?" Guy asked curiously.

"It was interesting to say the least but he took it fine."

"That's good. Ya think she could give my team a nice little sit down like that?" Guy half joked.

Kakashi actually considered it. "She's not quite ready for that yet," he admitted.

"Don't worry. Neither am I. Though, they are at that age, aren't they?" Guy mused.

"Yeah. It's inevitable," he sighed and the assembly started.

* * *

The next few weeks were pretty quiet. Kakashi went on more missions either with or without his team and while she didn't stray from his bed, so to speak, she didn't hide away any more. However, that didn't mean Kakashi stopped asking Sasuke to check on her while he was away without them. He was the only member of his team that she had not formed a good bond with and now that her times in his absence weren't completely sequestered, they seemed to be getting along a little better. Not that their tension had diffused completely, but Kakashi stopped going out of his way to see if they'd couple.

The teacher also couldn't completely leave the situation alone either. "Sasuke, thank you for coming," he motioned the dark-haired teen into his home one afternoon.

Sasuke looked cautiously around for Calixta as he was now in the habit of doing.

"She's out this afternoon and will be for quite sometime," Kakashi informed. "Have a seat, I'd like to talk to you."

"What is it?" Sasuke felt his anxiety level rise. Getting a one-on-one discussion with his sensai rarely happened when they weren't training.

"Actually, it's about Calixta. That's why I made sure she was going to be out while you were here," he told his student.

Sasuke was obviously uncomfortable with that line of discussion. "What about her?"

"You were the most affected by her during your mission to bring her here," he began.

"Yeah, well, considering who all was there, it's not really a surprise," the young man grumbled.

Kakashi laughed a little. "I suppose that's the truth. So you know why that was the case then," he surmised and Sasuke nodded in affirmation. "Good. I'd like you to tell me about what that was like," he prompted.

The dark-haired teen gave an incredulous look. "For what purpose?"

"I'm sure you've realized that Calixta isn't staying with me just for the fun of it and you're the only person I've found that encountered her before the elders got a hold of her. I want a first-hand account of what you went through," he stated but the young man still appeared unconvinced. "I wouldn't bother asking if I didn't value you're assessment."

That bit of praise broke the young man's stubborn streak a little. "What do you want to know?"

"As much as you can remember. I'm not exactly sure what details will be important so if you could include as much as possible, I would be greatly appreciative."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was about to divulge such a strange and intimate encounter to his teacher. "Well…I didn't really notice anything at first. She made me so mad that I didn't really consider that something like that might be happening."

"She made you angry?" Kakashi questioned because he wanted to understand why she would do such a thing.

"Yeah, she didn't like how old we were but she wouldn't tell us why. She told us she was expecting an adult and threatened to send us back for one."

"Ah, I see."

"Later on, she told me why. I was mad at the time but she should have stood her ground and made us go back to get you," Sasuke assessed.

"The mission document she sent to us had been tampered with or else that wouldn't have been a problem," Kakashi informed which seemed to ease his student a little. "Anyway, when did you first notice something was happening?"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment and thought back. "It was like a creeping. Every time I'd look back to check on her while we were moving it seemed to grow. When we stopped for our first bathroom break that day, that was the first time I really got a look at her. I wasn't really mad anymore because she was being really quiet and polite."

"Can you describe it?" Kakashi prompted hopefully.

Sasuke bushed just a touch in spite of himself. "It was…warm, maybe kinda tingly," he tried and felt his description was insufficient. "Almost like a pulse but it wasn't like consistent or anything so it was really hard to pin down. Sometimes, it felt like it hit me in the chest, sometimes the gut," he stopped himself.

"Anywhere else?" Kakashi knowingly asked.

Sasuke swallowed hard. "Anywhere, really," he managed.

Kakashi nodded in approval. "Continue."

"Well…that night she made dinner and I could tell she felt really awkward around us for some reason so I went for a bath."

"Those hot pools are very nice," Kakashi recalled distractedly.

"Yeah," he dismissed. "I dunno if Naurto realized she felt that way. I really doubt it since the best he could come up with to describe her was "seriously weird" but he came with me anyway."

"So she was alone with Sakura while you two were away?" Kakashi verified.

"Yeah. She only really seemed to want to talk to Sakura so I thought I'd just leave them be. I don't really wanna listen to girly chat anyway," he scoffed.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at what you can learn from listening to women talk, especially when they think there are no men around," Kakashi advised wisely.

"Well, whatever they might have been talkin' about, I didn't hear it because they shut up before we even got close." Suddenly, he remembered that because they had returned just in time to be served, they ate shirtless and blushed a little at what that could have meant.

"What is it? Do you remember something else?" Kakashi saw the look of understanding in his student's eyes and he didn't want to miss out on it.

"It's just that," he stammered. "Well, we didn't know, ya know? So, when we got back, we didn't really bother to put more than our pants back on," he blushingly admitted.

Kakashi couldn't help laughing a little at the innocent mistake.

"She gave me a _really_ weird look when she gave me my dinner but," he swallowed hard again, "I didn't realize why until now."

"Perhaps this exercise isn't completely worthless for you after all," Kakashi mused. "So, were you attracted to her by that point?" he asked bluntly.

"I was not attracted to her," Sasuke firmly asserted.

Kakashi gave a sigh of exasperation. "Yes you were. Even if it was just one little stray dirty thought, you found her attractive for some reason," he asserted.

Sasuke gave an indignant frown. He had to take a moment to think about when, exactly, it was that he first found her attractive. It had been during that first bathroom break but for what reason, exactly, he could not determine and hoped he wouldn't be asked. "Yes, I believe by that point I was," he admitted.

"Good. That certainly explains the look she gave you then. Please, continue."

"Well, when we were done eating, Calixta and Sakura went to take a bath while Naruto and I did the dishes."

"What was nice of you," Kakashi commented chidingly.

"Sakura insisted," he nearly grumbled. "Anyway, Naruto went to sleep right after we were done so I stayed up for the first watch. Sakura said she'd take the watch right after they were done bathing but she was late getting back and she didn't have Calixta with her."

"That's not like Sakura to neglect the mission like that," the sensai observed.

"Apparently, Calixta insisted on staying behind. She wanted a few minutes to herself. I was really annoyed with both of them so I had Sakura stay and start her watch like she said she would and I went to get Calixta."

"_You_ went to go get her?" Kakashi incredulously repeated.

"Yes. I told Sakura that even though Calixta would talk to her, she apparently wouldn't listen to her and went to take care of it myself."

"I see. I don't suppose you felt compelled to go to her?" he tried.

"Ah…no," Sasuke managed. "I just wanted to get her back to the camp."

For some reason, Kakashi believed his student this time and let him continue.

"I could hear she was still in the water so I just stood behind one of the big bushes around the pool and called for her to get out. But…she didn't want to trust me without seeing me."

"Yes, she's been fooled by such things in the past," Kakashi verified and it seemed to make the young man feel a little better.

"So, I stepped out so she could see me but I covered my eyes so she wouldn't think I was a pervert or anything," Sasuke was quick to validate his actions.

"Of course," Kakashi nodded.

"Well, she got out but she gave me shit about it," he grumbled.

"Oh? How so?"

"She told me I was a pervert because I didn't look," he continued to gripe.

Kakashi laughed at that a little. "How did she manage that?"

"She said that if I was completely mission-oriented, I wouldn't worry about that kind of thing and I would have just walked right up to her."

"It's an easy mistake to make," Kakashi nodded.

"You agree?" Sasuke blushed.

"Of course. You can't be sensitive to that kind of thing on a mission. It'll cloud your judgment ever time but in this case it wasn't entirely your fault. Actually, your instinct to cover your eyes was probably a good one in this instance."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to think about that so he continued. "Either way, I was so mad that I took my hand away to glare at her and…" he blushed and shifted. "She was just in her underwear but she was getting dressed, thank god," he muttered. "That feeling I described earlier, I felt it a lot then and it made it really hard to think. That was when I could tell it was her so I asked her why I felt so strange. She didn't really answer me. She just said that she was sorry, that she couldn't help it. She was worried about damaging me," he scoffed. "She followed me back to camp after that."

Kakashi was extremely impressed with his student's self control. If it had been him, he might have given in and took advantages of the openings she offered. "Did anything else happen that evening?"

Sasuke debated whether or not to divulge the next bit but it seemed important and nothing really happened so he decided to go for it. "That night was weird. I didn't sleep hardly at all and when I could, all I dreamed about was her," he prayed that was all the detail he'd have to provide on that subject. "It was so frustrating and I had a really hard time believing that she couldn't control it at least a little better than she was so I confronted her about it."

"Wait. When did you have time to do that? Or did you do it in front of the others?" None of the reports said anything about such a confrontation.

"I snuck into her tent during Naruto's watch," he admitted.

Kakashi shook his head, but it was more at Naruto than Sasuke this time. "I see. Perhaps Naruto and I will have to work on that sometime," he dryly mused.

"You should work on it with Calixta too 'cause she didn't even know I was there until I woke her up," Sasuke added smartly. "I'm not sure what was stranger, I hardly remember leaving my tent to go to hers but when I got there and woke her up she wasn't scared or anything. I was expecting her to scream or something when I startled her awake. Actually…I think she was even more careful than I was about keeping her voice down so they wouldn't hear us talking," he reflectively admitted.

"It shouldn't surprise you that you're most likely not the first person to do something like that to her," Kakashi pointed out.

As much as the idea unnerved him, Sasuke was still soothed by that notion. "Yeah, well, I asked again why I felt so strange. She said the same thing but this time sort of explained the nature of her abilities and her effect on certain people. I used my sharingan to try to understand what was happening a little better."

"What did it tell you?" Kakashi interrupted.

"Not a whole lot," he admitted. "Just verified what she already told me. She wasn't in control of what was happening any more than I was," he bitterly continued. "Then…" he had to think for a moment because the next few moments he would be describing were something of a blur to him even still. "Then, she laughed," he incredulously added, "I have no idea why. It was a stupid thing to do," he flatly continued.

"She doesn't laugh very often, even still," Kakashi commented. "Did it have an effect on you?"

Sasuke blushed. "I dunno, probably," he conceded so that he wouldn't have to answer anymore questions than he absolutely had to. "I was so worried about Naruto hearing her that I stopped paying attention to that for a second and covered her mouth."

Kakashi felt his heart skip a beat and found himself praying that the story he was hearing wasn't about to take a very dark turn. "Then what? Did she react to that?"

"She…She gave me the most peculiar look and then sh-she kissed my hand," he looked down at the spot on his palm where her lips had touched him without realizing how much of a tell that kind of gesture would be.

"Then what, Sasuke?" Kakashi prompted.

"Then…" he trailed off for a moment to think. "Then it was like there was this switch in my brain. It flipped and I was kissing her and she was kissing me back," he made sure to add.

The switch was something that he had heard Calixta actually describe herself. She had told him the first time they really talked about it that sexuality is supposed to be like a dial that can be turned up or down by even the finest degree. At the time, her ability replaced that dial with a switch; it was either off or completely on. He didn't tell Sasuke about this, simply giving a nod of understanding in response. "She is a very good kisser," he added to lighten the mood.

"If you say so," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "The kiss was like…I've never been drunk before but I think that's a lot like how it would feel," he sighed. "I don't think I really wanted to believe what she was telling me even though it was pretty obvious at that point but after that, I knew for sure it was her and that she couldn't control it."

"Wait, you said that when you started to use your sharingan," Kakashi pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't want to believe that she was that weak but could still influence how I felt so much," he replied.

Kakashi found that acceptable and understandable, so let it go. "Then what happened?"

Sasuke scoffed a little. "We did what she likes to call 'exchanging nasty words'. Ya know, like when we say shit just to make each other mad. I think she does it to drive me away," he commented.

Kakashi laughed.

"What?"

"That may very well be why she started doing that but now you two just do it to flirt," Kakashi dismissed.

"What did you say?" Sasuke started to get angry.

"Never mind. What happened next."

The teen glared but continued. "Then, she propositioned me, sort of. She gave me the chance to um, you know, but I didn't. Then, I left."

"That's it?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, nothing else happened that night."

"But something else happened?" the instructor surmised.

"Um, well, yeah. It's…It's…really personal…so I didn't put it in my report either," he couldn't look Kakashi in the eye.

"That's okay. I understand. However, it is now important and you can trust that your secret is safe with me not only because I'm your sensai but also because I don't really have any reason to go talking about you like that," he half-joked.

Sasuke almost laughed. "Yeah, okay." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "If it weren't for that damn hail we would have made it into the village by the following evening and everything would have been fine," he cursed the weather.

"Yes, well nature has a way of tampering with even the best of plans," Kakashi eased.

"So, we camped out in those caves. I took first watch 'cause I couldn't sleep and I was hoping it would let up sooner rather than later so we could get going. After Naruto and Sakura fell asleep, Calixta got up. She said she wanted to spend some time alone. I told her again that she couldn't go off by herself. I offered to wake Sakura so they could go together but she refused and kept walking away. I tried to stop her but she said it was for my sake. She was being such a bitch about it I almost slapped her. Then, she said I could go with her."

"Well?" Kakashi prompted when Sasuke hesitated.

"Sakura was awake, I'm not sure when she woke up, so I went back to my seat by the fire," Sasuke answered.

"And if she wasn't awake? What would you have done?" the silver-haired man couldn't help asking.

"I-I don't know…" Sasuke honestly admitted, almost a disappointed by his own indecision.

"That's alright. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Well," he reluctantly continued, "then, Sakura did the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen her do," he condescendingly reported.

Kakashi recognized the dodge and let it go. "And what was that?"

"She told me to go with Calixta," he complained flatly.

Kakashi gave an impressed nod. "I know you're aware that Sakura has a very deep and genuine affection for you. For her to do that means she cares a great deal about you."

Sasuke didn't answer that. "I told her no and she got really mad," he reported.

"And Naruto slept through all that?" Kakashi remembered that when Sakura got really mad, she had a tendency to be very loud about it.

"Calixta stopped her before she could really get started," Sasuke amended.

"Ah, I see." Kakashi noted how aware of those around her she was describing Calixta to be. "Then what?"

"Then Calixta asked Sakura to start her watch early and said that I was going to come with her. She pulled me up from my seat but then she let me go and started walking away again. I told her to come back but when I looked to Sakura to back me up she," he clenched his fists angrily, "she just told me to go with her," he nearly growled.

Kakashi finally understood why his student was so shaken up by the incident. It wasn't so much that it was a sexual encounter but because he was looking for his teammates to back him up and they weren't there for him. Naruto was oblivious and Sakura had pretty much checked out on him.

"I couldn't believe what she was saying! I mean, could you imagine Sakura saying something like that? Especially to me?" he nearly raved.

"Calm down. What happened next?" Kakashi guided.

"That damned switch flipped again and before I realized what I was doing, I was following Calixta into the caves. But this time…it wasn't as much of a flip as it was a-a…a snap," he managed. "As I tried to catch up with her, she taunted me. She said like you did that Sakura did that because she really cares about me. She said that what we were doing didn't mean anything. I kissed her again just to shut her up," he mused, "but it make the snapping happen again. She was worried about being my first."

"Oh?" Kakashi wasn't terribly surprised by that. With the way her life had been, it was likely to be a concern of hers. "And?" he curiously prompted.

"I assured her that was not the case," he informed and left it that.

That didn't surprise Kakashi either. With all the girls chasing Sasuke it would have been more surprising if he hadn't indulged himself at least once. "Naturally," he teased. "Then what?"

"Then…we…we had sex," he curtly managed.

"I realize this is embarrassing but could you elaborate a little bit more on that?"

Sasuke swallowed hard. "N-Not really. It was all kind of a big blur after that," he admitted.

"That's alright. I had a feeling that was the case. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"No. After that, most of the tension was gone and we made it back before anything else could happen."

"Thank you very much. I know that was probably pretty painful for you. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Kakashi offered.

"Is there a way I could make her feel the way she made me feel?" Sasuke scoffed. "Otherwise, no thanks. I'd still rather forget it happened."

That made Kakashi wonder but he wasn't going to say anything to encourage that at the moment. "I don't think we can do that but the next time she's flirting with you and bothering you, try using your copy of Naruto's sexy-no-jutsu," he advised. Calixta had gotten much better at dealing with it and reasoned that she could handle such an event even if it served to greatly embarrass her.

Sasuke gave him a weird look. "Whatever you say. Is that all?"

"Yes, I think we're done here. You have no idea how much help you've been to me," Kakashi told his student hoping to make the experience feel more worthwhile.

"Of course. Have a good day, sensai," he left with a lot to think about. However, he wasn't permitted as much time as he would have liked to analyze what had transpired before he happened upon Calixta again.

He noticed her long before she noticed him if only because she was standing and talking with a group of girls. He wondered what would happen if he did use the sexy jutsu in front of her, though all he would do for the time being would be wonder because unlike Naruto, there was no way he was going to do such a thing in a crowd of people. As he observed her from a distance, he found himself oddly pleased that she seemed to be getting along much better in their community now than when she first started going out. She even seemed to have a few friends that weren't Sakura.

He also took the opportunity to really look at her without worrying that someone would call him out for staring at her. Not that he wasn't staring, he just didn't want to get called out for it. There was no denying that she was, in fact, quite physically attractive. She had curves to spare and long, dark hair that curled slightly at the tips just before they reached past her butt. He wondered why her hair was so long. It didn't seem practical but then again, she wasn't the most practical person. Well, except in the kitchen.

Sasuke's stomach almost growled at the thought of her meals. As far as he was concerned, she was a master chef and he wondered if her lifestyle had fostered that kind of skill. He actually found himself looking forward to the semi-regular meals at his sensai's house where she would cook them a veritable feast even if it did mean he would have to put up with her nonsense. Not that it was entirely unpleasant nonsense but it usually was quite embarrassing for him. He considered requesting to Kakashi that she stop but he got the feeling it would do no good. Her argument that he should desensitize himself to such things was too valid for that.

She parted ways with her companions a little over an hour later and by the time Sasuke wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Rather, he was perched in a tree off one of the trails contemplating his day when she walked past.

"Hey," he called after her when she didn't notice him.

She visibly started and then looked behind her, perplexed that she didn't see the person whose voice she recognized.

"Up here," he called again and then, with a puff of smoke, emulated Naurto's sexy-no-jitsu.

She looked up and then fell right down on her ass.

He giggled and covered himself a little bit to tease her.

"S-S-S-" she blinked a few times and then almost managed to say his name but then he leapt from his perch to land right at her feet.

"Pervert," he accused in a soft, feminine voice.

Calixta took a deep breath to steady herself and stood, brushing herself off. "What the hell?" she demanded, hardly able to look at him.

"Do you find me that revolting?" he playfully mocked, repeating the words from the first time she was indecent in front of him.

"And you said I was unbelievable," she scoffed though it lacked much conviction due to how dizzy she felt.

"You are. Look at you. You need a tissue bad," he giggled at her.

"Ya know, it sorta ruins the whole thing when you still say such harsh things to me," she pointed out, feeling a little better.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?" he cooed in a sexy little voice.

Calixta felt her knees weaken so she turned on her heal and walked away from him. He didn't follow or taunt her after that, simply changing back before anyone else could see him like that. He was too pleased with himself to chase after her.

Calixta didn't know what to say about that or if she should say anything. Perhaps he was just messing with her. He looked pretty satisfied so maybe he would just leave her alone now.

No such luck. Over the next couple of weeks, he would, every few days, appear to her suddenly using the sexy jutsu. She got more and more used to it over time but it was apparent that it was going to take a very long time before she would be able to contain her reaction to it.

This came to a head one day when he went to check on her while Kakashi was away. Luckily, she had talked to Kakashi a little bit about it and she had a renewed sense of confidence regarding the situation so she wasn't completely unprepared.

She was making lunch when he knocked on the door. This had become the expected time the he would check on her on account that she would feed him since she was already making lunch for herself. It worked our very well for him. He had never done the sexy jutsu at Kakashi's house before. However, while the cat was away, the mice will play. So, he felt confident in pushing the envelope a bit. So, when she heard her coming to answer the door and no one was around, he turned female just in time for her to answer the door.

This time, he got her nose to bleed. It was the first time that had happened in a while. He gave a naughty giggle. "Looks like you need a tissue, sweetie."

The trickle coming from her nose increased for a moment while he giggled before she got it under control. "Knock it off before I bleed in your lunch," she scolded and went back to the kitchen, leaving him to enter and close the door.

"Aren't you gunna change back?" she bitterly snapped when she saw him flop down on the couch as a naked female.

"Is there something wrong with how I look?" he pouted playfully.

"You know, you're getting a little too good at this," she teased back, "And it's making your spastic behavior less appealing for me."

"What do you mean? That doesn't make sense," he accused haughtily.

She laughed and shook her head. "That's because you only know that it works. You have no clue why."

"It works because you're a huge pervert," he giggled and scampered up behind her, pressing his body against hers.

She gave a shudder. "What exactly are you hoping to accomplish? It's not like I was ever this forward with you," she complained.

"Why don't you stop me?" he proposed.

"I shouldn't have to," she snapped.

"You have to learn not to be so passive," he retorted.

At that she turned around to face him but just ended up blushing even harder when their breasts squished against one another. He smirked.

"You think you're pretty hot shit, don't you," she asked as she grabbed a tray and walked away from him.

"You sure do," he grabbed the other tray and followed her.

She laughed at him and shook her head. "Ya know, you're practically begging me to let my chakra loose on you again."

"I bet you'd love to do that," he accused.

At that she licked her lips and leveled her gaze on him, forcing eye contact for one of the few times since they met. "I wouldn't have to though," she added offhandedly.

He scoffed at that, "Yeah, right. I just have to do this," he teased one of his pert little nipples with the tip of his middle finger, "and you forget your own name."

That was practically true and it made her give an ironic little laugh. "That's the point," she pointed her chopsticks at him for effect.

He scoffed again.

"You scoff at me one more time and I'll have to blame you for what happens next when 'Kashi-sensai gets back," she warned.

"Don't call him that, it sounds stupid," he told her harshly.

"Then stop me," she challenged.

"I shouldn't have to. It makes you sound like a two-year-old," he told her harshly, losing his cute-composure.

"'Kashi-sensai doesn't think so. He likes it when I call him that in bed," she practically bragged.

"You're such a pervert slut!" he accused.

"I'm not the one eating lunch naked," she pointed out coolly.

"I'm the only one who's really eaten anything. You've been staring at me the whole time," he laughed and cocked a silly little pose.

That was the last straw. "You wanna play that way? Okay," she nodded and pushed her tray aside. Then, she stood and stripped down to nothing.

"What are you doing?" he demanded incredulously as she made her way over to him.

"Ya know, if you used your Sharingan in that form, you'd look like a real femme fatale," she commented as she brushed a few stray hairs away from Sasuke's eyes.

He batted her hand away only to have his wrist caught as she sat down in his lap.

"You wanna play dirty, I can totally do that," she told him as she looked him over as though wondering where to start. "I just wonder how wet you are already," she taunted as she reached between their laps to run a careful finger along the temporarily female ninja's slit. It was already hot and slick. It made her smirk as she brought her fingers back up to taste them. She saw the look of delighted disgust at the gesture and offered her fingers to him instead.

"No thanks," he curtly replied. "Now, get off me already," he tried to shove her off.

She pouted and grasped one of his breasts, coaxing his nipple to hardness in a matter of seconds and started rolling it between her fingers. "Do you really think you're comfortable enough in that body to go traipsing around in it in front of a pervert without getting accosted?" she proposed.

"My self control isn't the issue here," he tried to push her hand away but she just held on and ended up pinching and pulling on his nipple instead, making him give a slight yelp of pain.

"Oh? Perhaps it should be because I'm the one who constantly has to analyze their self control so I think maybe it's your turn," she leaned down and started to apologetically tease the bruised nipple with the tip of her tongue, eliciting a sharp gasp from the one beneath her. "Ah, you like that? We had such little time for foreplay last time," she regretfully mused.

"You used me last time!" he retorted harshly and she stopped.

"You think I don't know that?" she asked in an even voice as she looked him in the eye. "Even though everyone tells me that all those who I had before I came here were, along with myself, victims of circumstance. I know I used you. I took advantage of the fact that you were the most sexually mature out of the three of your team. It was either that or go completely nuts trying to keep it under control. I didn't want you to have to carry me back to your village. That would have been too much," she regretfully remembered.

"Then why do you harass me so much? The only reason I started doing this was to get back at you for giving me such a hard time all the time," he reasoned.

"Because it's fun," she admitted. "You don't try to pretend to like me and for the most part, you really don't like me. It would have been that way no matter what. I think I told you that once. But, there is a part of you that does like me, though I'm still not quite sure why," she teased. "Besides, I have to get back at you for saying such harsh things about me all the time."

"But you only end up proving my point," he argued.

"Or am I proving that your point isn't worth worrying about?" she proposed. "Either way, I turn you on enough to make you cum and I'll prove it," she started to slide down the younger student's body.

"No you're not!" He scoffed.

"Are you saying I can't or are you afraid to let me try?"

"You couldn't so you shouldn't try," he shot back but then she grasped his hips and started to tease his clit with her tongue. So unfamiliar and erotic was the sensation that he lost all his thoughts and a great moan tore through him. It didn't make him cum, but it was damn close. "S-Stop!" he pleaded but she didn't listen. He tried lacing her fingers in her hair to pull her away but it hardly seemed to work.

"What's the matter? Can't take the heat?" she haughtily proposed.

Sasuke found his breath coming in short gasps now and his head was nearly spinning but he could tell she wasn't using any sort of jutsu on him. This was all her and it was making him furious that he would react to her in such a way on his own.

"Knock it off," he gasped.

"Or what?" she taunted.

"Or…I'll tell Kakashi-sensei you-" he began forcefully but she cut him off by laughing at him.

"You'll tell him what, exactly? I would love to hear you explain to him what's happening, how you seduced me," she mused in a dark, husky voice.

When he didn't answer after a few seconds, she went back to his clit and started to suckle on it, teasing the little hood with the tip of her tongue when it passed through her lips.

"Oooh, you're so sexy when you wiggle like that," she cooed up at him after swirling her tongue around his clit another few times.

"I said STOP IT!" he yelled and pushed her off.

She landed on her butt at his feet, laughing at him. "Okay, okay, geeze," she stood and went back over to her seat and pulled her tray back over to her so she could actually start eating. Flustering him so badly had calmed her nerves enough for her to eat.

"What the hell?" he demanded, finally changing back.

"Two things. Thing one, I had to do something or you were going to keep pushing my buttons and driving me crazy. You said yourself that I should be less passive. Thing two, you should have just let me finish. You look like you could use a good o," she teased. "It's good for pent of tension."

"I didn't tell you to molest me!" he retorted, feeling violated and angry because he wanted more.

She scoffed at him this time. "It got you to change back," she shrugged. "Though…it did take you a while."

Sasuke finished his lunch as quickly as he could and stood to leave. "Well, it seems you're doing just fine so I'm out. See you tomorrow if Kakashi-sensai isn't back by then."

"Just a second," she called after him and ran up to catch him.

"Put some damn clothes on!" he yelled when she appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

She gave a nervous little laugh and coved herself a little for his sake. "Haha, after all that, I forgot. So, can we call it a truce, then? At least…cool it a bit?"

"Yeah, okay," he agreed, more than willing at this point to accept such a bargain.

She smiled at him and without thinking, gave him a warm hug.

"Ugh! Get off me or the deal's off!" he blushed furiously when her naked body pressed against him even though he was clothed again.

She laughed at herself again. "I'm sorry," she backed off again. "It's just that-" she stopped herself. "It's complicated. I'll explain some other time. Have a good day," she let him leave.

"Unbelievable," he muttered to himself as he left. At first he couldn't help blaming himself, and his teacher in part, for what had just happened. Then, he did blame himself for not letting her finish what she started by letting himself cum for her.

He wasn't sure how to feel about the idea that the main thing holding him back from letting her do such a thing was how easily she seemed capable of doing it. He would be letting her take advantage of her personal experiences being greater than his. Striking a deal with her was the best thing, all things considered.

***

Kakashi returned that evening just in time for her to add enough extra ingredients to make enough dinner for two.

"How were things while I was gone. Looks like it was pretty quiet," he commented as he retreated to his study for a moment to retrieve something. Once he found it, he returned to sit at the table where he poured himself a small cup of sake.

"Yeah, things were non-eventful while you were away…mostly," she gave a silly little giggle.

"Oh? Did something interesting happen?" he perked up a bit.

"Let me ask you a question first. Did you happen to mention to Sasuke my weakness to sexy-no-jutsu?" she asked knowingly.

"He was complaining about how easily you can fluster him because he didn't have a way to retaliate," Kakashi covered.

"Ah, I see. Well, he seems to be quite good at it," she mentioned.

"Oh?" Kakashi perked up a little more. "Did he show you his progress?"

She laughed a little. "You could say that. I don't think he would have done it if you were around but he sat round here most of his visit to check up on me as a naked girl," she playfully complained.

"I apologize. I didn't realize he would take my suggestion so seriously. I hope it wasn't a problem for you," he mused.

"Well, it was extremely distracting but I did manage to deter him," she half-boasted.

"And how did you manage that?"

"I gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"And what does that mean?" Kakashi suddenly sounded worried.

"I showed him that he shouldn't abuse such a form when he cannot properly control it."

"I've never seen Sasuke's sexy jutsu but his chakra control in general is excellent," Kakashi observed.

"That may be the case, but I used absolutely zero chakra to derail his control," she bragged.

That didn't ease the teacher. "What did you do?" he almost demanded.

"I got naked, hopped in his lap, and gave him just enough pleasure to realize he was in over his head," she told him frankly.

Kakashi nearly fell on his face from trying not to get a nose bleed at the mental picture she painted for him so abruptly.

"After that he agreed to call a truce."

"Well, I suppose it wasn't a complete waste then," he mused dryly.

"Pity though," she mused as she sat down with their meals.

"What's that?"

"He let me start but he didn't let me finish. It seemed to be a matter of pride that I not give him release. I'm sure it would have been beautiful," she half-marveled at the memories she did have before digging into her meal.

"Indeed," Kakashi strangely mused before following suit.

"Are you disappointed in me?" she asked carefully.

"No, I'm just wondering if there wasn't a better way to handle that situation," he told her evenly between bites.

"I tried just letting it go. The relaxation techniques you taught me work wonders but this isn't the first time he's appeared to me like that and he insisted that he wasn't going to stop unless I made him," she elaborated.

"I see. But did you have to do that, exactly?" he pressed.

She gave him an odd look. "I'm not sure what you're getting at," she admitted regretfully.

"You could have just thrown him out, made him leave," he suggested.

She frowned slightly at that. "First of all, it's not my place to turn your students away especially when you send one of them to keep an eye on me. Second…I was passive for along enough. I didn't use my powers so I don't think it should be a big deal," she told him evenly.

"To correct your first point, this is almost as much your home as it is mine for all intensive purposes. So, feel free to turn anyone away while I'm not here. Okay?" he verified. Even after all this time, he still hadn't managed to break her of some of her stringent observations of etiquette. He understood it was an overreaction that she had used to keep at least cordial relations with those around her.

"Okay, thank you," she bowed slightly.

"Second, I don't know enough about the situation to know whether or not you were too passive so I'll take your word for it. Teenage boys have a tendency to badger those around them until they receive an extreme reaction anyway. I should know, I was one once," he mused. "I'm just still deciding whether or not to be glad that you didn't use your jutsu. I think I'm pleased though it's not fair to take advantage of your greater personal experience."

"I thought ninja didn't play fair," she replied quickly.

He smirked. "Okay. I'm not disappointed. Now, while I was away I had some time to think about your training. I'm sure you've realized we've reached something of a plateau." He waited for her to respond.

"I suppose," she conceded. Actually, she found her plateau quite comfortable at the moment.

"You've learned not to let other people's attractions affect you. You've learned to function normally in most social situations and did I hear you might have a date with Ebisu?" he listed her accomplishments.

She blushed a little. "He asked me out to dinner yesterday. I haven't answered him yet," she admitted.

"It's not nice to keep him waiting," Kakashi reminded.

"I know. I was so…flustered that I didn't know what to say. Then he gave me this weird look and I was worried that he felt what I was feeling so I ducked out. I was planning to answer him tomorrow. I've seen him walk through the market after classes are out at the academy," she noted.

Kakashi nodded in approval. "What are you going to tell him?"

"I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first," she shyly answered.

"Do you want to go? Or are you hoping to use me as an excuse not to?" he asked seriously.

"I think it would be fun," she admitted.

"Then go but that's another thing. You don't have to consult me on every little relationship you have. You can have your own life. I really don't need to know everything." The truth was, he didn't have the attention span to pay attention to all of her goings-on and tend properly to his various other duties.

"O-Okay," she stammered.

"Good. Now, about what you were just concerned about. I think you've got sufficient control over it, even though you don't seem to think so. If nothing else, only those you are close to and have deep feelings for seem to sense those things. Those people have a right to know how you feel," he pointed out.

"I suppose. I trust it…but only because I trust you," she added hastily.

"That's fine for now," he conceded. He had learned to pick his battles and recognize that even a small victory like that was significant for both of them. "Now, to continue your training, I think we need to shift gears, change our approach," he began.

"Oh? Like how?" She was obviously worried about that.

"To return to your theme from earlier, I think we should start taking a more active approach."

"Wh-What do you mean?" she asked even though she had a pretty good idea already.

"I think we should start taking a more active approach."

"Active how?" she pressed.

"Look, I don't want to be harsh so I'll just say this. When it comes to just about every kind of chakra channeling but the kind used by your innate abilities, you stink. We both know that. That said, it leaves us to focus on those innate abilities. Who knows, we may find something else along the way, but until then I have to nurture what is there in order to make you better than you are now."

She was obviously crestfallen. "I see. How do you propose we do that?"

He wasn't surprised by her lack of enthusiasm but it was disappointing. "There in lies the problem. You see, with most jutsus a person can practice in solitude and achieve reasonable success. Like when I teach Naurto something new, he disappears for a few days and practices on rocks and trees and things until he's maxed out. I'm afraid that's not an option for you."

She sighed but didn't interrupt.

"Your abilities require another person to interact with. You are unique as far as I know in that your abilities are entirely socially based." The mention of her uniqueness in such an endeared tone made her tension visibly ease. "I don't know if you realize it but that has earned you a place in our village. Regardless, this means you require another person to help you train. That person cannot be me," he stated frankly.

Her demeanor drooped again. "Who did you have in mind?" she asked carefully.

"I was hoping you could help me discern the best person for that," he answered.

"Why not you?" she whined.

"Because then I cannot be an objective observer of your progress. I may ask you to try some of your techniques on me so that I can evaluate them from that perspective but that is all."

"I see. I can't think of anyone," she curtly replied.

"Oh, now you didn't even think about it," he playfully accused even though he was mildly annoyed by her childishness.

She frowned and looked down at her lap. "What kind of person would want to do what you're suggesting?" she incredulously asked.

He laughed a little. "I would if I could," he answered with a naughty grin that made her blush.

"You're joking," she dismissed.

Since he was pretty much finished eating anyway, he crawled over to her and sat very close to her. "I'm not joking," he told her in a soft, even voice.

"Y-Your sharingan…" she reached up and lightly traced the leaf pattern that rested over his eye, "you can copy just about anything with it, right?"

"As long as it isn't too far beyond me," he admitted. "Why?"

"Show me," she breathily requested.

"Show you what?"

"Show me what I do. Copy my jutsu and show me what it's like. I won't resist so you won't hardly have to try," she bargained.

He was unsure because of her insistence. "I'm not sure that's really necessary."

"I refuse to do anything to anyone else without knowing what it's like," she resolutely stated.

He was obviously disappointed by that. "Why is that?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," she snapped uncharacteristically. "I'll agree to your dumb training if you do this one thing for me," she bargained.

"And if I don't? Then what will you do?"

"Whatever comes after that. I'm sure it won't be as pleasant as what we have going right now but I'll deal with that when the time comes," she resolutely replied.

Kakashi pursed his lips. "You are very stubborn," he told her.

"I know," she conceded as she often did when she wanted to apologize.

"Let me think about it," he told her.

She was just pleased that he was considering her words. "Yeah, okay."

* * *

The next few days and nights between them were a little tenser than usual but it wasn't unbearable. Calixta went on her date with Ebisu and they had a smashing time save one lull in their conversation as they were leaving the diner.

"What's that solemn look for?" he asked carefully and then made a joke about how delicious the deserts were to lighten her mood.

She laughed a little at his joke before replying. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so distracted. It's just that Kakashi wants to start a new kind of training and I'm not sure I'm prepared," she carefully surmised.

"I'm sure whatever it is you can handle it," he encouraged.

She laughed a little at that because it wasn't exactly her she was worried about. "Thank you," she smiled up at him and barely quelled the urge to hug him. The fact that they were walking arm in arm was enough for the time being.

"What kind of training do you guys do anyway? I never see you at any of the practices courses or training facilities," he noted.

That made her falter slightly. "Oh, um, well…" she stammered.

"What? What is it?" he pressed, seeing the anxiety in her features.

She gave a reluctant sigh. "It's…sort of…complicated," she managed.

He cocked a curious eyebrow at her. "Ah, I get it, you to are 'training'," he rudely teased.

She gasped in horror. "It's not like that!" she insisted, even though that wasn't the whole truth either.

"Okay, okay, geeze. I was just givin' ya a hard time!" he continued to tease. "Besides, Kakashi's always got his nose buried in those dirty mangas. I'd be surprised if he looked up often enough to realize how stunning you are."

"E-Ebisu…" she barely said because she was speechless. "I…thank you," she blushed furiously.

He laughed a little at how flustered she was because it just seemed to make her cuter. And because of that, a moment later, he found himself leaning down to kiss her. She gasped lightly at the sudden contact but yielded to his small advance.

When they parted a few seconds later, they were both blushing deeply.

"Ah, Ebisu," she was about to say something but knew the words wouldn't come out right so she kissed him this time, leaning upward to close the space between them.

He almost groaned at the way her body pressed against his but managed to hold it in so they could savor that quiet moment in the park just a few blocks from the diner.

However, fate had other plans. Well, fate or Sasuke, either one. The couple heard a condescending laugh come from a few feet away.

"Ha. Pervert on pervert, what a perfect match," the dark-haired teen mused as he approached from the opposite direction. He hadn't intended to interrupt them but when he happened upon them kissing in the park, he couldn't help himself.

"Sasuke!" Calixta scolded fitfully.

He laughed at her and when he was sure no one else was around, he disappeared in a puff of smoke only to reappear before them as a naked female who giggled and winked at them.

Both Ebisu and Calixta fell to the ground in surprise, their noses dripping with blood.

Sasuke laughed at them again and then was gone.

Calixta almost panicked and ran away but she knew that would leave Ebisu with the wrong impression. "I'm gunna kick his scrawny ass!" she decided as she stood dusting off her clothes.

"Now wait, he's just a kid," Ebisu coaxed until he noticed that her nose had also started to bleed. "What's this?" he carefully wiped a drop away with his finger to show her.

She blushed deeply and couldn't make eye contact anymore. She was so afraid of his rejection that she couldn't even move, let alone speak.

"Hey," he saw how distraught she was and lifted her chin with one hand to look into her eyes. "It's no big deal," he wiped his nose on his sleeve for emphasis. "He only wins if we let him," Ebisu told her firmly before reinitiating their kiss.

She didn't really believe him. She thought that Sasuke had 'won', if there was anything to win, the minute he happened up on them during their private moment but there was no arguing with a kiss like that.

He tried to walk her home but she had him leave while they were still a little ways away from Kakashi's house. Regardless, he received a very welcoming good-night kiss and her hope that they could do something similar again in the near future.

***

"Sasuke, sit down," Kakashi ordered when his student entered.

Sasuke was obviously disconcerned with his sensei's tone and obey immediately. This time, he didn't look around to see if Calixta was there.

"Good. I want to start by telling you how impressed I am with how far you've come with your sharingan in such a short period. It truly is remarkable and you should be proud of yourself."

"Yes, Sensei," Sasuke was startled by the praise.

"Now I have a rather…interesting, and completely voluntary, test for your copying abilities."

"What's that?" Sasuke questioned carefully.

"I need to further Calixta's training," Kakashi told his student frankly, "but she refuses to participate unless I show her what it's like. She wants me to use my sharingan to copy her jutsu and use it on her."

"What's that got to do with me?" Sasuke tried not to sound too impatient.

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, my endurance while using my sharingan eye is severely limited. I do not believe I have the capacity sufficiently to do what she is asking."

"But you think I do?" Sasuke grimly surmised.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. There is also the fact that I am her teacher and it is my duty to provide her with guidance, something I would be incapable of doing if I do as she asks," he continued.

Sasuke sat in silent contemplation for a long time after that.

"As I said, it's completely voluntary. It's not like I could force you to take my place in this instance."

"Regardless of what I want to do, I doubt she would let me do such a thing. She asked you because she trusts you. She doesn't trust me," Sasuke argued.

"She trusts you a lot more than either of you realize and I haven't said anything to her about a substitution as of yet. I wanted to have your reaction first before I started giving her ideas."

"What would I have to do, exactly?"

"Oh, it should be fairly simple. She will use her abilities on you enough for you to use your sharingan to copy them. Then, she will let go and you will have to take control. At that point, what you do will depend on what kinds of feelings she's giving you though I'm sure you'll know how to proceed from there."

Needless to say, Sasuke really liked the idea of turning the tables on her.

"Since she's only recently mastered control over her chakra, especially when attempting to channel it, you may have difficulty controlling the reactions as well but even if you don't have any control over what's happening, it shouldn't be a problem. And, even if there is problem, you can trust that I'll be nearby to remedy such a thing," he assured.

"I'm sure," Sasuke grumbled at his teacher's lecherous tone.

"Do you need time to consider this? Or do you have an answer for me now?" Kakashi pressed.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot," he agreed, banking on revenge.

"I'm happy to hear that. There is one catch though," Kakashi added offhandedly.

"You didn't say anything about any catch," Sasuke argued.

"Well, I wanted to see if you were ripe to the idea before I brought in any extra details," he explained.

"So what's the catch?"

"The catch is that you have to continue to be her training partner after that. Her abilities require at least one other person to work and as we already agreed, that person cannot be me. So if you're going to do this, you're going to have to commit to it for at least a little while."

Sasuke frowned and felt trapped.

"What's the matter? You were more than willing to use her abilities a moment ago. It would be an impressive addition to your already rather extensive repertoire," Kakashi added.

That had him. "Okay, for a little while. If it's too weird or anything, I'm out though," he bargained.

"Naturally. It is a voluntary agreement after all," Kakashi conceded.

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was getting himself into.

"You could even use your sexy-no-jutsu that you copied from Naurto. I hear she rather likes that side of you," he teased.

"Where did you hear that?" Sasuke tried not to snap.

"I have my sources. That's not important now. What is important is that you come back after the team dinner this Friday night. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." With that, he was practically shooed out and he gladly left.


	5. Betrayal

As they were getting ready for their company, Kakashi started a conversation they had been putting off.

"I found someone willing to try being your training partner," he began carefully.

"Oh, who's that?" she distractedly inquired.

He didn't answer that. "I think I've also found a way to accommodate your prerequisite for continuing your training," he added.

She didn't like the way he worded it. "You have the way," she insisted.

"So I do," he mused and before she could ask anymore, their company started to arrive and they had to put it off.

Sasuke was a little more awkward than usual but covered it nicely by just being quiet, as usual. Their dinner went well and they left all smiles a couple of hours later. Calixta and Kakashi were in the middle clearing the table when there was a knock on the door. He answered it and let Sasuke in.

"Ah, Sasuke, did you forget something?" she looked around to see if he had left anything behind but found nothing.

The dark-haired teen shot his sensei an unsure look. It was quickly becoming apparent that Kakashi still hadn't told her about their substitution.

"Come away from there, Calixta," Kakashi motioned her from the kitchen to the sitting area. "You didn't want to train your abilities into skills until you knew what it was like to be affected by them the way others were, right?" Kakashi began.

"Yeah," she gave Sasuke a nervous glance to which he did not react.

"And you wanted me to do that because of my ability to copy your jutsu," he continued. "Well, I'm not the only one. You've seen Sasuke use his sharingan before so I know you're aware of it. He has agreed to take my place in that charge so that I can maintain my required position as objective observer," he explained.

"He what?" She demanded and then quickly turned to the teen. "You what?"

"If you find that unacceptable then I'm afraid we're at an impasse and I will have to report to the elders that you are reneging on your agreement," he warned.

"How poetic," she muttered as she mused that the last person to encounter her without any control or means of directing her would be the one she would submit to. "Okay," she agreed after a long moment of thought.

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't realized until she agreed that he didn't really believe she'd go for it, especially after how mean he'd been to her in the past few months.

"Good. So, do what you have to," he motioned to the pair of them. Their eyes grew wide with incredulity and he almost laughed at them. "What's the hold up?" he teased.

"Right here?" she questioned incredulously.

"Right now?" Sasuke added immediately after and with a matching tone.

Kakashi pointed at Sasuke, "Yes." Then, he pointed to Calixta, "Not necessarily. Just don't go too far. I'd like to be able to keep an eye on you," he winked but it was lost due to his bandana.

She turned to the dark-haired teen sitting only a few feet from her and eyed him carefully, looking him up and down.

"Stop looking at me like that!" he told her. "It's weird." She giggled and he felt a chill go up his spine, then, a familiar pulsing in his body. It made him gasp lightly when he realized that she had already started.

"You're gunna have to just start whenever you can," she told him evenly.

Kakashi was amused by their interactions. Their relationship was unique to say the least. They obviously cared a great deal for one another but their personalities clashed so severely that it was almost impossible for them to agree on anything. He was also amused by his younger student's intense blushing as he blinked and summoned his family's eyes.

As she stared at Sasuke, Calixta eyes became half-lidded and she gave a slightest gasp. "Your feelings for me have grown," she whispered.

He sneered at her and about a minute later, he felt confident enough to make his own advance. However, the only outward sign of this at first was that his eyes narrowed and focused on her a little harder. Instead of taking her in, now he was asserting himself.

She gasped again when she felt her own power reflected back at her. "My god."

He smirked at her first vocal indication of his influence over her. "You're not resisting me at all," he noted.

She nodded vaguely.

He scoffed at her and she flinched.

"Sasuke, be nice," Kakashi warned in a stern voice. "I highly doubt she was mean to you."

His features softened.

"Good," he said and stood to leave them be for a few minutes, figuring privacy would be the best thing for their progress at this point. But he didn't go very far. He just went over to finish the job they'd started of cleaning up and doing the dishes.

That made Sasuke bold and he intensified the chakra he was focusing on her. The flush on her skin intensified. "You're more attracted to me than I realized," he mused. "And here I thought it was just an act to get under my skin."

"I wouldn't do that to you," she whispered.

"And you still feel guilty don't you?" he surmised from the feelings he was getting from her as well as the way she was behaving.

"You've made sure of that," she replied. "Not that it's made much of a difference. In fact, I think I like taking your abuse because it's the closest I've gotten to repenting for all the terrible things I've caused."

He didn't like that answer. "Well stop it," he ordered.

"Wh-?"

"You heard me. I said stop it. I don't want you to feel sorry for me, okay? It's dumb 'cause you don't do crap like that anymore," he told her.

Kakashi couldn't help listening to their conversation and feeling oddly pleased.

"But you-"

"Never mind all that," he dismissed and increased his focus on her again for emphasis. She squirmed under the pressure, much to his delight. "And you're right, this is pretty hard to control," he conceded.

She smiled a little at the near compliment, which let Sasuke know that if he was going to make a bold move, that would be the moment. Her confidence had sufficiently returned even though she was incapable of sitting still in his presence. So, with a smirk, he utilized the sexy-no-jutsu.

This time her nose gushed violently and she flew backward to the floor.

Sasuke giggled, "Oh dear!"

Kakashi's eyes bugged out and he rushed over. "Sasuke! Damn it!" he scolded, helping the girl up to sit up on the floor next to where she had been sitting.

"Sorry, 'Kashi-sensai," he pouted in a sexy voice at his teacher.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and fought the temptation of just nailing them both right there like that. Just as he was about to slap his student, Calixta had regained enough of her sense to start undressing, which he only realized because she was pushing his hand off her shoulder so she could remove her shirt and bra. That made him second guess his rescue and withdraw to a safe distance again.

She looked for a moment at Sasuke, "Femme fatale," she mused as she removed her pants and underwear.

As she slid her panties down her legs, he noticed her hands were shaking slightly. This put him into action once again. He placed his hands on hers and helped guide her the rest of the way. He picked up the panties when they were off her feet and looked at them. "Pretty cute," he commented before tossing them side.

She just stared blankly at him for a moment and even when she did speak, "Yeah," was all she could manage, thinking somewhere in the back of her mind whether or not she had a cuter pair she could have worn for the occasion.

"So…you wanna finish what you started the other day?" he proposed in a naughty voice.

Calixta grinned at the idea and pushed Sasuke down onto his back where he landed with a soft thump. Then, before he could blink, she was between his legs and lapping at his slit. He came for her mere moments later and when he tried to sit up, she lifted his hips and kept going.

"But I already-ah," he protested.

She laughed and kept going, making him cum twice more like that before letting him lay down flat on the ground. He lay panting and dizzy and she couldn't help marveling down at him. He was almost completely spent, sexually speaking, and had a lovely glow about him as she brushed a few stray hairs from his eyes.

He gave her an oddly affectionate look as he looked up at her. However, now he felt as though it was once again his turn to make a move. "What are you thinking about?" he ask curiously.

"You," she told him simply.

He laughed a little at that and sat up. "Do you prefer me like this or should I change back?" he offered honestly.

"I prefer you how you prefer to be," she answered honestly.

He was displeased by that answer. He wanted her to decide.

"Change back," Kakashi ordered and was immediately obeyed.

Suddenly, Calixta felt overly exposed because Sasuke wasn't naked anymore. She shifted slightly, self conscious. However, that didn't last. When he leveled his gaze on her again, she was moving toward him and pulling at his clothes.

"Let me undress you," she requested breathily.

He nodded almost stupidly at the request and she immediately started back to work. When he was naked with her in Kakashi's living room a couple minutes later, he almost couldn't believe himself, even more so when he realized how hard he was.

Seeing he wasn't inclined to speak, she brushed her lips against his, carefully requesting a more forward advance from him again. To oblige her, he kissed back and wrapped his arms around her body, pulling them tightly against one another.

She gasped and moaned against him and a few minutes later, she was on top of him, riding him furiously.

"H-Hey, slow down," Sasuke nearly pleaded, biting his lip.

She shook her head fitfully from side to side and rode him harder.

"Hey!" he grabbed her and rolled them over so he could be on top. "I said slow down," he pinned her and she wiggled violently in his grasp.

She gave a sharp gasp at his sudden motions and the tightness of his grip. "Ah, I can't. It's too much. Don't tease me," she whined.

He laughed a little at her, a small affectionate sort of laugh.

"Oooh, but you're so close," she complained.

That was, of course, why he wanted her to slow down.

"I never held anybody back, please, don't be so cruel," she moaned.

"But-" he tried to protest as her legs wrapped around him and she started bucking against him.

"Cum inside me," she pleaded, "Be strong with me."

Her pleas made significant dents in his self-control. The feeling of her arousal was starting to overwhelm every last part of him and soon he would give in, but not without one last glance at his sensei. When Kakashi gave a slightly distracted nod of approval, both Sasuke and Calixta felt the snapping. This was the first time since that first night that Sasuke had felt it; Calixta on the other hand had lost count of the number of times it had happened to her.

He finally dove into her with all the strength he could muster and had they been in the right mind for it, they would have feared for the stability of Kakashi's sitting room floor. As it were, neither could think of much of anything save the burning heat between them that exploded a few minutes later when he came deep inside her.

Again, he rolled off her immediately. But this time, this was the extent of his initial withdrawal. He was quite content for the moment to lay next to her panting while they gathered their senses.

Kakashi finished cleaning up a couple minutes later but before he could speak to either of them, Calixta turned to Sasuke, who was still staring dazed at the ceiling, and whispered, "Thank you."

"Well, that was interesting," Kakashi interrupted their revere and they both sat up. "I hope it was worth it," he sat down, "for both of you," he added offhandedly and started to serve them some tea.

As they regained their composure, Sasuke slipped his underwear and pants back on while Calixta opted for her panties and t-shirt. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensai," she bowed a little to him.

"Don't thank me just yet. That was just the beginning. Now you have to let me train you," he reminded rather harshly.

"Yes, of course," she submissively agreed.

"And Sasuke here has agreed to be your training partner," he added.

"What?" Calixta blinked with surprise and turned to the dark-haired teen. "Really?"

"Yeah," he reluctantly confirmed.

She was obviously shocked but didn't press him further.

Sasuke stayed only long enough to finish his tea and then politely took his leave of them to sort out his feelings.

"Do you feel better now?" Kakashi asked when the teen was gone.

"I think so…" she muttered.

"Was that not as satisfying an experience as you had hoped? I don't think I could have done any better," he shrugged.

"Oh no, it's not that," she dismissed.

"Then what?"

She gave him a critical look. "I'm not sure. It's probably nothing."

"I don't really believe you but if you do become sure, you'll let me know," he told her as though it were a fact, which it pretty much was.

"I'm beat."

"Get some rest then. You're going to need it."

"Wh-What about Sasuke?" she asked suddenly before entering her room.

"What about him?"

"You don't think this will interfere with his other duties?"

"I am his sensai. I'll make sure he doesn't become overwhelmed."

"Naturally. Forgive my questioning you," she playfully bowed and retreated.

* * *

Their training progressed for a full month before Kakashi took pity on Sasuke and decided they'd had enough of one another.

"You've made great progress with Sasuke," Kakashi commented over dinner.

"Thanks, I guess," she managed.

"Which means we can move to the next step."

"And what's that?" she reluctantly asked.

"It's all well and good to exercise your influence over someone who is knowing and willing. It is something else entirely to influence someone who is unaware."

She frowned but nodded.

"I know you don't like that idea but it is the next step. Tomorrow, when you go to the market, I want you to do something. Charm the fifth person who makes eye contact with you for more than three seconds. Well, unless it's a child or something," he retracted.

"And do what with them, exactly."

"Well, we wouldn't want you to get carried away," he laughed a little, "See if you can get them to follow you back here. That way when you let go, if they get angry, I can deal with it, okay?"

"Sure," she agreed with a heavy sigh.

"Good."

* * *

She did as she was told, even if she did try to avoid making eye contact with most people she encountered, which meant that most of the people she had lengthy eye contact with were vendors.

She was just getting her change from the fourth vendor and fourth person to make eye contact for more than three seconds, when she was suddenly startled.

"Ah, Calixta!" Guy greeted.

She started and looked up at him to find her smiling down at her. Naturally, their eye contact lasted more than three seconds and she silently started cursing fate. However, she remembered her mission and put on a smile.

"Good afternoon, Guy-sensai," she said sweetly, slowly starting to get a feel for him.

"Shopping I see. I hope Kakashi doesn't make you do all his household chores," he teased.

She laughed a little. "Oh, no, of course not. Bah, he's not around half the time anyway to notice if I do anything or not," she dismissed.

"Well, that's good. Where are you headed now?" he inquired when he noticed her looking around a little.

"Oh, I'm just finishing my shopping. I was hoping to buy some sweets but I'm just not sure what I want," she pouted playfully.

He gave her a strange look. "You're much more pleasant with me this time," he remarked.

"Yes. I regret my rudeness," she admitted shyly.

"Like I said, don't worry about it," he dismissed with a grand gesture.

She started slightly at his exaggerated motions. "Ah, ha ha," she gave a nervous laugh but continued to slowly assert herself.

"There are several different places you can find some good sweets but my students seems to really like that shop over there," he pointed to one down the street.

"Oh, thank you," she took a few steps in that direction. "I-I've never been in there before. Would you mind coming with me?" she carefully asked.

He found her request a little odd but then again he found her very odd so he let it go. "Of course. Where are my manners," he laughed and followed her into the shop where he helped her decide that fudge was the best choice for that day.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she raved as they exited. "This look so good!" she pulled out a piece and noticed how closely he was watching her.

"Would you like some?" she offered it to him.

"Oh, no I couldn't. You bought that," he declined.

"Oh, please? You deserve it for helping me!" she insisted and held it up to him. She would have held it in front of his lips if she wasn't so much shorter that it would have been too awkward.

"Alright, if you insist," he took the fudge and ate it. He was just about to comment on how good it was when he looked over and noticed she was licking the traces of chocolate that had stuck to her fingers. He would have thought she was doing it on purpose but she wasn't looking at him, and seemed completely content with her sweets.

She noticed his momentary staring but didn't react to it, simply smiling up at him. "It's very good," she commented.

"Yes it is," he replied, slightly distracted.

"Well, I suppose I'm done for the day. I should get all this stuff back," she heaved her bag over her shoulder.

Her bag looked a little heavy to Guy, "Here, why don't you let me carry that for you. It looks quite heavy."

"It is a little heavier than usual. I'm making dinner for Team 7 tonight and you know how those boys can eat," she giggled a little and actually saw a reaction in his eyes at the sensations she was affording him.

He laughed with her. "Then allow me," he held a hand out to accept the bag when she handed it to him.

She carried her sweets separately and they had pleasantly light conversation while they walked. He found the whole scenario very appealing, so much so that he hardly realized what she was doing to him. However, there was still a slight tingle in the back of his mind, the tingle of memory.

When they arrived, she started up the steps first. When she knew he was behind her, she turned back to him, "Guy-sensai," she began carefully. "Thank you, very much for going out of your way like this."

"It's nothing, really," he insisted, setting the bag down on the porch.

She smiled and reached into her bag of sweets. "Here, you deserve at least one more for carrying my things." This time when she offered the cube of chocolate fudge she was standing a few steps above him and that allowed her to put the sweet treat to his lips.

That was the straw the broke the camel's back. She'd pushed too far too fast and he recognized the rushing feeling starting to course through him from the first time he ever saw her. "Kakashi!" he yelled authoritatively.

She appeared slightly disappointed and the silver-haired man exited his front door a moment later.

"Guy? What are you doing here?" he questioned incredulously.

Calixta turned to her teacher, "Number five," she said evenly and Kakashi laughed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Guy demanded.

"Why don't you come in and I'll explain," Kakashi motioned for them to come inside after he picked up the bag of groceries. He put on a pot of tea and they talked while Calixta put things away. "I'm sorry about that, Guy. It was sort of an experiment," he admitted.

"An experiment? So you put her up to it?" Guy nearly demanded.

"Something like that. I'm trying to train her abilities and I told her to get the fifth person to make eye contact with her for more than three seconds to follow her back from the market. I'm more than a little surprised it was you," he half-teased.

"It's not what it looks like," Guy insisted.

"I'm sure. I hope you're not too offended," Kakashi tried to mend.

"No, I was just helping her carry her stuff back from the market. She shouldn't have to carry that heavy bag all by herself," he amended.

"Of course," Kakashi placated.

"Kakashi-sensai, he's not being entirely untruthful. Guy-sensai is a good and honorable man. My influence held little bearing over his actions if only because I knew he would recognize it if I tried too hard," she told him.

"Then why not simply move on to the next person?" Kakashi proposed. "I only proposed the fifth to make it random."

"It doesn't get much more random," she insisted.

"And I could still tell what she was doing. I just wasn't sure until we were on the porch that she was doing it intentionally," Guy added.

Kakashi appeared disappointed. "Perhaps I should send you back to the market to find someone else then."

She was obviously disappointed by that but didn't argue.

"Don't be so hard on her," Guy eased quietly so she wouldn't hear. "All things considered, if you don't tell anyone I said this, she did better than I'd care to admit," Guy conceded.

Kakashi nodded. "I appreciate your candor," he genuinely replied.

"So don't let it happen again," he snapped.

"I'll see what we can do about that." Kakashi agreed and decided not to send her back to the market that day.

"You did well today. I am quite surprised, and I think Guy is surprised as well. Though, I would recommend putting him on an off-limits list," he half-joked.

She nodded. "He is almost too honorable to fall for my tricks," she mused.

"That is probably true but it is good to know those kinds of limits. Though, you seemed to overcome that somewhat. Tell me, had you intended to buy fudge today?"

"No," she admitted.

He nodded in approval at her improvisation.

The next three times he had her do this, she brought back much less interesting prey, a shopkeeper, one of the older students at the academy, one of the workers renovating one of the shops. All took the news in stride and vowed to be more vigilant so as not to fall for her tricks in the future.

Her fourth try was somewhat different. The fourth time, she didn't come back. Since a common theme of chivalrous behavior was emerging in that the males that she influenced wanted to carry her things, Kakashi insisted that if she buy anything, it be small and easy for her to carry this time.

She had just exited the candy store with a lollipop when she happened upon Jiraiya, who was absolutely stunned with her on sight.

"Good afternoon, Miss," he greeted with googley eyes.

"Oh, good afternoon, sir," she blushingly greeted, knowing she'd found her next victim.

"Where are you off to on such a lovely day?" he asked.

"Oh, nowhere special," she dawdled.

"Oh? Would you mind if I joined you then? You see I am in sore shape for company at the moment and could really use a friendly face like yours to brighten my day," he leered.

"That sounds very pleasant," she conceded and when they started walking, she took his arm, an action that she knew would be considered too forward by most but that this man would obviously appreciate.

They flirted for nearly an hour while wandering around the city. He showed her places that she'd never seen before.

"This place is beautiful," she marveled at one of the many hidden gardens of the Leaf Village.

He sat down on one of the benches and uncorked his bottle of sake to sip while she wandered about, looking at this and that flower or insect. He quickly realized that this woman could find beauty in everything she saw. Even the venomous spiders that dangled dangerously from their webs, she commented on their grace and patience with awing admiration.

"Please, have a seat. Just watching you is making me tired," he patted the place next to him on the bench.

She gave him an odd little smile and did as he asked. "What's that?" she asked suspiciously of his bottle when he took another sip.

"Sake," he answered simply. "Would you like some?" he offered it to her.

That made her falter. "I-I've never had any before," she admitted. "What's it like?"

"Never?" he questioned incredulously. "Well," he thought for a moment. "It's probably pretty bitter if you've never had it before and this stuff's kinda strong anyway," he tried to explain.

She looked around to see if anyone was watching even though they hadn't seen a single other soul since entering the garden. "May I?" she asked mischievously.

He handed over the bottle, curious for her reaction and was not disappointed. She made a bitter face before coughing and sputtering even though she'd only taken a small sip before handing it back. "Hmm-ah-hmm," she cleared her throat. "You're right. That is quite bitter," she swallowed again to get more of the taste out of her mouth. As she did, she felt the liquid warming her belly. "But very interesting," she added carefully.

He smiled at her. This woman had potential. "So, what's your name anyway?" he asked suddenly when he realized that they'd spend the better part of the afternoon together without exchanging such pleasantries.

"What's yours?" she countered quickly.

"Jiraiya," he replied simply.

"Calixta," she answered.

"I see," he nodded in recognition.

"So my reputation precedes me then," she replied flatly.

"Hardly. I put very little stock in reputations. I've just always liked that name," he told her and she blushed a little.

"You've met others with my name?" she asked curiously.

"One or two, none as pretty as you," he flattered.

"You surprise me," she admitted.

"Oh? Why's that?" he distractedly prompted before taking another sip.

"Most people, when they figure out who I am, they stop flirting with me," she told him seriously. "Not that I generally go around flirting like this, mind you." As much fun as that could have been, she didn't think it would make her as many friends or at least friendly acquaintances that way.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not like most people. For another, they only do that to prove you're not influencing them. I have nothing to prove, well, at least not in that area. There's only the two of us here and I think we both know the state of that affair," he told her with equal seriousness.

She had been working on him from the moment she saw him but ceased in her efforts almost completely when they had entered the garden. "Are you cross with me?" she asked with cautious, pleading eyes.

"It's not fair to ask like that," he teased, nudging her a little harder than she was expecting.

"I don't know any other way to ask," she managed to reply.

He laughed a little at that. "How about this, I won't be cross with you if you give me a little kiss," he bargained lecherously.

She gave a little giggle. "Yeah, okay," she agreed, thinking that one would not need special abilities to seduce this man.

Her giggle sent a little shiver through him and he smiled down at her in a silly way before presenting his cheek.

She thought it odd that he would only want a kiss on the cheek but didn't question him as she leaned up to fulfill her part of the bargain. At the last second, however, he fulfilled her expectations by turning his head so they could kiss on the lips.

He expected her to sheik and pull away, maybe even receive a slap. Instead, she surprised him by clasping either side of his face with her hands to make it a real kiss that deepened into a brief make-out session shortly after.

He had a lecherous grin when they parted to catch their breath. "I couldn't be cross with you after a kiss like that," he mused, mostly to himself as he took another sip.

"May I try that again?" she asked, feeling a little dizzy already.

He happily obliged, knowing she wouldn't take very much, and their conversation continued from there until they decided that it was late enough for them to part ways.

"Ah, Jiraiya-san" she carefully began.

"What is it, dear?" he affectionately answered.

"I was wondering if after all that you might find it in you to do me one small favor," she tried.

"What might that be?" he figured he would agree but he knew better than to agree before knowing what she had in mind.

"Walk me back to Kakashi-sensai's?" she proposed.

He gave her an odd look. "For what purpose?" he incredulously questioned.

"Well, you see…he's been trying to train my…abilities and as part of that," she explained the exercises he'd been having her do.

"Is this the first time you'd be coming back empty handed?" he asked curiously.

"This is only my fourth attempt but yes, if you say no it would be the first," she answered honestly.

"I don't think I have the time," he told her evenly.

Her brow furrowed. After wasting all afternoon with her, he didn't have the time? "Are you sure? It would only take a moment," she pressed hopefully.

"I'm afraid you failed. It wouldn't be right for me to give your sensei the wrong impression," he reasoned.

She thought that she hadn't failed as much as she stopped trying. "I see. You could just tell him that I failed," she proposed. "I just don't want him to think I wasn't trying," she told him.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid the answer is no because no matter the reason, I would still be where you were supposed to get me. But, perhaps you'll succeed in the future," he offered hopefully.

She pouted but it did no good so she said her good bye to him and went back empty handed.

"Oh? No such luck today?" Kakashi greeted from his hammock.

"I'm afraid not," she grumbled.

"And after taking so long too, I'm a bit disappointed," he teased.

"I'm still…" she trailed off and pursed her lips in a moment of thought. "I need more time," she told him.

He liked that answer. "Good, that means you're picking more difficult subjects," he approved. "Who is it this time?"

"I'd rather not say just yet," she replied hastily because she got the impression the two men knew one another fairly well.

"Oh? Are you sure? If it's someone I know, I may be able to offer some guidance."

"Perhaps if I fail again next time," she replied and he seemed to like her initiative.

"Okay. I ordered out for tonight because I wasn't sure if you were ever coming back," he teased. "It should be here any minute."

* * *

One afternoon, later that week, Calixta went with Naruto for ramen. He was always so enthusiastic to eat but he felt guilty that she always cooked for him so suggested they go out this time instead, which she happily accepted.

"This is wonderful, Naruto!" she told him as they arrived. "I don't have anything to do today and I was afraid I would just stay cooped up in the house all day."

"Well, if you ever get too bored, come check out our training. It's usually pretty fun to watch even if you're not training yourself," he offered.

"I might just do that one of these days. I've been curious to see how he trains you three," she told him but before he could reply, another presence entered.

"Ah! Naruto!" Jiraiya greeted heartily and then he noticed who he was sitting with. "And with such beautiful company!" he took the seat on the other side of her.

The man making ramen behind the counter gave Calixta an unsure look because of how forward the older man was being but she dismissed his concern and he stopped paying attention to them again.

"Oh, Pervy Sage! This is Calixta," he introduced between bites. "Come to think of it, you two would probably get along pretty good," he teased them. "Here," he had just started to weave the sexy-no-jutsu when he felt her soft hand gently touch his.

"Please, Naruto, not now. Not while I'm eating," she requested quietly and then mumbled, "You're almost as bad as Sasuke."

"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned curiously but was ignored.

"Good afternoon, Jiraiya-san," she politely greeted after regaining her composure at the nickname Naruto had given him.

"Oh, you've already met?" Naruto surmised.

"Yes, I was pleasured with Calixta-chan's company earlier this week. You know, my dear," he turned to her but still spoke loud enough for the young blonde to hear, "it's not fair to target one so young. He doesn't stand a chance."

That made Calixta and Naruto exchange strange looks and laugh.

"Oh, Jiraiya-san, you are too funny," she dismissed.

"Ha, yeah right!" Naruto added. "Like she could do that perverted stuff to me!"

Jiraiya was amused by how comfortable the two were with one another.

"All done!" Naurto suddenly announced about a minute later. "That was great!"

"Here, dear," she took his bowl and handed it back to the man behind the counter. "One more for him please," she told him.

"Aw, you don't have to do that. One bowl's good enough," he managed.

That caught Jiraiya off guard. He had never known Naruto to refuse free food.

"You need your strength. Please, let me do this for you," she pleaded softly.

Naruto blushed a little at her tone but it was hardly noticeable. "Yeah, okay. Thanks," he managed.

"You handle him very well," Jiraiya commented to her when Naruto started to slurp up noodles again.

"Don't say foolish things," she dismissed.

Jiraiya let it go, realizing that it was the affectionately maternal air she took with him that made him so willing to listen to her. "So, are you free after this? Or do you have to keep babysitting," he teased.

"She's not my babysitter!" Naurto violently argued.

"Of course I'm not," she turned her full attention to Naruto once again. "If anything, I'm under your supervision," she told him playfully and that made Naruto's happy demeanor return.

It unnerved Jiraiya how true that could have been but shook it off.

"But to answer your question," she turned back to the older man, "No, I'm not doing anything after this."

"Perhaps we could go for another stroll. Our last one was so nice that I haven't been able to get it out of my mind."

Naruto scoffed. "He just wants to get a good look at you naked."

"Now, now," she turned back to the blonde for a moment before returning her attention to the white-haired man. "It's difficult, isn't it, when no one takes you seriously, especially when you speak from the heart?" she proposed in a soft, knowing voice.

Jiraiya was taken off guard by that. "Now you're saying foolish things," he dismissed because of how closely to home she it.

"Of course," she conceded, seeing that she had managed to push one of his buttons.

Naruto left them alone together after finishing his second helping and thanking Calixta for her generosity.

"I think you should know," she began as they started wandering around together, "That I feel oddly comfortable with you."

"Oh? I do tend to instill an air of confidence," he boasted.

She giggled a little at his boasting and he felt a little shiver run up his spine.

"So, you're going to give it another try?" he asked with playful suspicion.

"That's what I was getting at, well, sort of. You see, it seems that when I feel a deeply genuine affection for someone, it is difficult for me to keep it to myself," she admitted.

"Oh?" he was obviously intrigued by that. "How so?"

She blushed and looked away. "When something pleases you, you smile. If something pleases me and I do not give in to the smile, you could, perhaps, feel me smile instead," she offered.

"Is that so?" he mused and she nodded in affirmation. "Then how I am to discern what is causing the strange feelings you give me?"

She faltered. "I-I don't know."

That made him smile a little. "I see. Fascinating," he remarked with a nod.

"You…don't mind?" she carefully queried.

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. Is there somewhere you'd like to go today?" he offered, changing subjects.

She was startled by the sudden change. "Oh, I don't know. Honestly, I haven't had much opportunity to see what there is to do," she admitted.

He laughed again. "Okay, let me show you a few things then. The village isn't very big, but we have a few things I could show you."

She was delighted by that and he felt another warm chill ripple through him. He liked the idea that she was so obviously receptive to him.

He showed her several different places. Her favorite seemed to be the art museum, which didn't surprise him in the least. If only because it reiterated the impression she had given him in the garden, that she could sense the beauty in anything. It made him want to push her to see if that was really the case or if she had a limit for that.

"What do you think about this one?" she motioned to a statue.

"I've never liked that one. It's so obnoxious," he complained.

She gave him an odd look. "But just look at the curves here, the mix of colors," she pointed out.

Through these exchanges, he was able to determine that her sense of beauty could not be dissuaded by cynical criticism.

"You have quite an eye for beauty," he commented as they exited the museum.

"Why thank you. It's hard not to find beauty within such a collection," she replied.

He shook his head in disbelief. Apparently, she was unaware of the skill he saw in her. "Indeed."

Throughout their day, she slowly worked her influence on him and due to her natural affection for him, he didn't seem to notice.

When the sun started to lower in the sky, she breathed a heavy sigh. "It's getting late. I should get back," she remarked with a note of regret.

"Alright," he sighed. "I hope to see you again sometime," he offered.

"You could come to dinner tonight," she offered hopefully.

Jiraiya desperately wanted to accept. "I'm afraid not tonight. Perhaps another time."

She appeared crestfallen. "Oh, okay."

He felt her disappointment and it weighed heavily in his chest. "I'm sorry. Maybe next time," he regretfully took a step away from her and felt a slight pang.

Without thinking, she made up the step between them and caught him in a warm embrace. "Thank you so much for today," she told him, pressing her face into his strong, broad chest, "I had such a good time."

When she hugged him, some of the pain he felt from his withdrawing from her dissipate so he hugged back and felt an even greater sense of relief. "I did too. Let's do it again sometime," he said and withdrew again. This time, the pang he felt wasn't as intense and she allowed him to leave. However, he couldn't help, once he was a little ways from her, stopping to watch her walk away from him.

He felt, somewhere deep within him, the urge to follow her but he knew better and went about his business, leaving Calixta to once again return from her day, empty handed.

"That certainly took quite a while," Kakashi teased when she returned just in time to start their dinner before he got the chance. "I thought you were just going to lunch with Naruto."

She blushed a little. "That's how it started but I met the man from the other day while we were out," she informed.

"Oh? The one you failed to charm last time you went to the market?" Kakashi prompted.

"Yes, that's the one," she answered as she started their meal.

"It seems you failed once again then," he mused playfully.

She wondered what he would say if she knew who it was. "Perhaps."

"Still need more time?" he teased.

"Unless you'd rather I move on," she suggested.

"No, I'm curious about this latest conquest of yours. I want to see if it pans out."

"He's not a conquest," she insisted.

"Call it what you will," he shrugged and let her go about her business. "I wish you'd tell me who this mysterious person is."

She didn't answer, simply kept working.

This made Kakashi wonder about her relationship with the mystery man but he had the feeling that if he wanted answers, he would have to pry them out of her and he wasn't up for that. So, instead, he went out that evening to do a little independent research.

This research consisted of asking around to see who Calixta had been spending her time with while she was out. Of course, there was Ebisu. No surprise there. The two of them had hit it off stunningly well and he hoped they would remain close. He provided her with a sense of normalcy that she wasn't accustomed to and it had been very good for her. Even after he found out who, exactly, he was dating, he didn't seem to mind. Though, this was probably because he'd become acquainted with her before he knew.

Then came the surprise, Jiraiya. Well, it wasn't a complete surprise. To find that the two had never crossed paths would have been an even greater surprise but needless to say, he was surprised to find that the pair had been sighted together by many different people and at many different locations. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the man she was pursuing.

He found this man peering into the women's bath that same evening.

"Oi, Jiraiya," he called quietly so they wouldn't get caught peeping.

"Ah, Kakashi. I knew you liked my novels but I didn't think you'd ever join me for a peek," the older man mused.

"I understand you've gotten to know one of my students," Kakashi began.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and remembered the woman in question. "Calixta?" he assumed.

"Yes."

The white-haired man took one last long peek before standing. "Let's go someplace else to talk about this."

Kakashi was intrigued by that. Usually, unless it was a serious mission, prying the older man away from his peeping sessions was all but impossible. He gave a quick nod and followed.

"What about her?" Jiraiya prompted when they were a safe distance away.

"I wanted to know what you thought of her," he replied simply.

"At nine o'clock at night? Is something the matter?" he incredulously questioned.

"No, nothing's the matter. Now's just when I had time to ask you," he replied simply.

"Oh, okay then," he breathed an overly exaggerated sigh of relief to cover the fact that he was actually a little worried. "So, what do I think? Well, she is probably the prettiest person in the Hidden Leaf Village now," he commented while making crude hand gestures.

Kakashi gave a little laugh of agreement. "That's a little more subjective than I was looking for."

"Are you checking on her progress?" Jiraiya surmised.

"Progress?" Kakashi carefully clarified.

"Yeah, she told me about the latest stage of her training," the white-haired man elaborated and he didn't sound terribly amused.

"Oh?"

"Do you think it's safe for her to go around doing things like that here in the village?" he questioned.

"She can handle herself, at least, she can now," Kakashi reasoned. "And no," he lied, "I simply heard you two were spending some significant time together and I trust your judgment."

He didn't entirely believe the younger man but decided to take him at his word anyway. "She's an interesting individual. So much of her is yet undiscovered."

"You think so?" Kakashi prompted.

"Yes, but it's buried under so much nonsense that I'm not sure she'll ever get that far," he sadly continued.

The younger man had had those kinds of suspicions as well and it was why he was pushing her as hard as he was even though it was only just getting a little easier to get through to her. He gave a nod of agreement.

"What do you think about her?" Jiraiya asked boldly.

"I agree. She has amazing potential but she's so difficult to get through to."

"You're wondering if she's even worth the effort at this point?" the older man surmised rudely.

Kakashi frowned which was hidden by his scarf. "Not exactly. I'm just not exactly sure what to do with her," he admitted.

Jiraiya scoffed. "I can think of no shortage of things I would do with her."

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation, wishing that was all he had to do with her. That would make his life much less complicated.

"Since we're on the subject anyway, I've wanted to ask you. Have you noticed her taste for aesthetics?"

"Her what?" Kakashi repeated.

"She's got an eye for things that you don't see very often," he added vaguely.

"What are you getting at?" the younger man pressed.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed. You surprise me."

"Knock off the mysterious bit and just tell me."

"You're no fun. I just noticed that in the time I've spent with her, she has a keen eye for finding what's beautiful in everything. I think you could probably hand her a plate of shit and she could find something genuinely positive to say about it," he laughed at the idea.

Kakashi's brow furrowed. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"

"Calixta," he paused when he realized he didn't have another name for her. "The seductress from the north."

"Yeah, that'd be her," Kakashi sighed.

"I don't get it then. You're usually very good at seeing these kinds of things." He shrugged. "Hey, since you're here, I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?" Kakashi reluctantly obliged.

"You two doin' the dirty deed?" he crudely suggested.

Kakashi frowned and was glad it couldn't be seen. "It's not like that."

Jiraiya nodded in approval.

"Thank you," Kakashi left without another word.

The next time he knew Calixta was going to be out for a significant amount of time, Kakashi decided it was time to invade her privacy. This was the first time he felt compelled to do more than enter her room and give it a quick sweep. This time, he went through her things.

Speaking with Jiraiya made Kakashi realize that even though he'd lived with Calixta for almost a year now, he knew very little about her. He didn't know what she liked or disliked or anything really and he realized it was just as much his fault as it was hers. He had expected her to open up much more once she became comfortable with their arrangement and she did, but only a crack.

Her room was clean, as always. Everything had its place and that order was only disturbed when she was disturbed. A few minutes of searching later, he found one of the large trunks she'd brought with her originally. It was pushed under her bed and latched but not locked. It was heavy but as it moved, he felt and heard no shifting from within.

When he opened it, he was surprised to find it was filled with paper and every piece was filled with her handwriting. Without thinking about whether it was right or wrong, he took the piece on top and read it.

_Jazaki Shindo - kind eyes, always gives Naruto extra big helpings, kind wife, darling children, amazing noodles!!, soft spoken but good heart_

That was all that was scribbled on that page. Curious, he thought and set that one aside to take up the next page.

_Jiraiya - big heart, lovely sense of humor, perceptive senses, excellent tour guide, odd taste in art, voice that makes a tingle in my ears, understanding in ways I don't understand_

_Appeared to me as "conquest" number 4 but I couldn't keep it up, not sure it matters, he was onto me, should probably keep trying though; the garden was amazing_

_Saw him again while at lunch with Naruto, didn't hesitate, spent the afternoon together and went so many places I can't remember them all, art museum was the best, so many precious and beautiful things I almost cried so many times_

This page had some other notes on it, mostly the minor details of their impromptu dates. He would have read them in more detail but the next page caught his attention.

_Ebisu - charming, welcoming, adorable sunglasses, cute smile, says he's a dork, K-sensai says he likes me, called me a "wanderer", wonder if he's right, concerned about my well being but I don't know how to reassure him_

_If K-Sensai tells me to "conquer" him, I absolutely will not!_

_My first real, normal date, took me to dinner at a wonderful little café with live music, stayed out very late but the music was so very good, talked about so many things, felt so good, wonder if this is how other people feel all the time as I can only hope and wonder, kissed at the end of the night and was so moved by his gentle urgency that I could hardly speak, when his hand touched my cheek I thought I would faint_

Suddenly, Kakashi felt guilty for his intrusion upon her privacy as he set down that sheet without reading the rest. He sat for a long time on her floor, next to her bed, debating whether or not to continue. His limited search thus far had revealed much more about her than he had anticipated. At best, he had been hoping to find a diary or even a journal. Kneeling before the trunk, he flipped through the stacks of paper to find that she had catalogued seemingly every single person she had met in the Hidden Leaf Village, even if it was only a single word to describe them. Digging deeper, he found more names that he did not recognize. He could only assume they were people she'd met before coming to their village. The sheer number of names was daunting and he tried to disturb them as little as possible as he flipped through them.

After his conversation with Jiraiya, he wasn't surprised to find nary an ill word about anyone. It almost bothered him. Then, a thought occurred to him. Through all the names he saw, he did not see his own. Hastily, he flipped through the stacks again to find that he had not overlooked such a document. That really bothered him so he put everything back the way he found it and left her room.

Even throughout the whole next day, he couldn't stop thinking about her trunk of papers, or more importantly, the absence of the paper with his name on it. She had to have it. But where? The next opportunity he got, he scoured her room for the paper in question but found nothing of the sort. So, instead, he sat down and read another few of her dossiers.

_Sasuke - curt, careful, distant but drawn, strong, willful, bashful, quick witted, the way he looks at me sometimes causes such turbulence in my emotions that I have trouble looking at him, mixed signals, tells me I'm lazy_

_K-Sensai had him check up on me while he's away, was napping when he came by and he woke me, wasn't completely dressed and I think I saw his nose bleed a little before answering the door in my underwear like an idiot, got dressed and fed him cookies, says I should speak to Naruto about my abilities_

_Came again to check on me, was very curt with him, tried to make him go away without letting him in but no such luck; he said K-Sensai doesn't trust me to take care of myself, probably right, wished I could tell him but he would give me that look, busted a can of soda and drenched me, laughed at me but blushed when he saw my shirt sticking to me, very cute, got angry; accused him of still being attracted to me even though I dare not find out for sure; he accused me of using my abilities, told him I didn't have to, told him what K-sensai told me to do, called me a whore_

_Came again to check on me, third day now, said something I don't quite remember and left quickly_

The rest of her entries made during the times Sasuke was checking on her were much less interesting so he skimmed them until he reached the next section.

_K-sensai set us up, because of his sharingan, a substitution, ironic that he should be the one, wish I knew how he felt about it, whole thing was sort of a blur, there was anxiety, longing, repression, felt some of his anger again but it left quickly, liberation, fear, ecstasy, just what I needed, so long I wondered, to change places, nearly lost my mind I think; he takes control so naturally, envy, admiration, exposure, overexposure?, volatility, catharsis, godforsaken snapping, the reset button, broken down so far, so base, so little it takes but so much there is_

After that, she detailed her impressions on their training sessions together.

_Fitful resistance, tolerance, denial, fear, overwhelming doubt, I hate that he can feel these things from me but it gives me purpose for my control, so hard to let go for both of us, so hard to hold on, electric touching so XXXX, in moderation this sensation would be fabulous, heat, pressure, spinning, dancing, coursing, pulsing, restraint, vivacity, immediacy, intimacy?, his hair is so soft, eyes of fire no matter what, pushes me so hard, so well, so often, hates when I'm comfortable, nearly intoxicating at times, want to caress his cheek and punch him in the nose_

As much as Kakashi was amused by that last line, the part she crossed out annoyed him to no end. He had been trying to think of a word to describe the electric sensations he sometimes felt from her. As he thought about that, he looked once again for his own name among the countless others. Again, he found no such document, much to his displeasure. Out of spite, he took another paper from the top of the stack and read it quietly to himself.

_Might Guy-Sensai - intense, __**intense**__, challenging, admired, curious, confident, quick, very quick, forgiving_

_Met during my first dinner out with K-sensai, was very forward, was rude to him, incredibly rude, felt threatened, intimidated?, by him somewhat but cannot say why, handled me well; returned to apologize and was told to forget, honor, pride, confidence, handsome face_

_Happened upon me just in time to be my first "conquest" in my new training, tried not to push my luck, did fairly well so I'm told, he took it well I am led to believe, though I know most of his actions were not driven by me, perhaps guided but that is all, so much passion, focus, determination_

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation. Every dossier he read made him want to read what she had written about him even more. He was sure there had to be one for him and the fact that there was no trace of such a thing.

He had just picked up the sheet with Sakura's name on it when he heard someone approach. He couldn't believe that he had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the front door open but that didn't matter. It was already too late. She returned earlier than he expected.

Calixta came home from a quick brunch and the house was quiet. Wondering if Kakashi had left but as she approached her room, she saw that it was open and heard shuffling from inside. The sight and sound made her step quicken and she gave a sharp gasp when she caught him snooping.

She was so horrified that she couldn't speak. It was obvious what he was doing. The trunk was open and there was a paper with her scribblings in his hand as well as in a small pile to the side.

"Calixta, you're home early," Kakashi dryly surmised, mentally slapping himself.

"W-Wh-Why?" she demanded quietly. "Why would you-?" she felt a tingle in her throat and it made her words stop short.

Kakashi breathed a heavy sigh and set the paper back in the trunk, closing and attempting to slide it back where he found it.

"What's the point?" she yelled and stormed into the room. Using a physical strength that he didn't know she possessed, she lifted the trunk and threw it to the ground violently. "Why even bother?" she grabbed an armful of papers as they scattered about and threw them in his face.

"I was simply curious about you because I realized how little you've opened up to me," Kakashi managed.

"You don't want to know who I am!" she told him incredulously. "You just want to turn me into something acceptable!"

"Calixta, please, calm down. I realize what I was doing was wrong but-" he tried to ease.

She gave him a look of absolute disbelief. "Of course you realized. I'm not an idiot! Maybe I should just be disappointed that I caught you. Getting caught red handed isn't very ninja, is it?" she accused.

"No, I suppose it's not," he agreed, hoping to placate her somewhat, though he was clearly disappointed with himself for getting caught.

"I hope you're happy," she told him as she started to walk out of her room.

"Actually, there seems to be one missing," Kakashi pointed out. She was already furious so there wasn't any worry about making matters worse.

She shot a suspicious, almost dangerous, look over her shoulder but didn't reply. "I'm going back out," she curtly informed as she headed for the front door again.

"Wait, just a minute," he called after her but she was already gone. He could have forcibly stopped her if he really wanted to but he knew that would only cause the situation to degrade further. When she slammed the door, he breathed a sigh of regret and wondered just how much damaged he had caused.

Instead of following her, he went back to her room to try to put the papers back in her trunk. Most of them were in great, sliding piles and had not gotten out of order. However, that was not the case entirely, leaving him with some organizing and shuffling to do. Still, he found nothing with his own name on it. Sure, there were references to him on nearly every page made for someone of the Hidden Leaf Village but they didn't tell him anything he didn't already know.

When he was finished cleaning up what he considered to be his mess, he waited for her to return and wondered if she would. The look of absolute betrayal that she gave him made him almost sick to his stomach. He wondered if he had failed her or his mission and wanted to seek her out to attempt to make things right but he knew it would only cause more of a scene. So, instead, he sat at home all the rest of the evening drinking sake, a sure way to make it so he wouldn't leave his house.

* * *

She ran out of Kakashi's house and down the street, not bothering to care which way she was going. She could feel the hot tears she'd been holding back start to overflow and run down her face. There were so many people out that afternoon and she didn't want to disturb any of them so she ended up stopping when she reached the secret garden that Jiraiya had showed her the first time they met. When her feet stopped moving, she couldn't stand any longer and threw herself on the grass at the base of a large, welcoming tree to sob until she passed out from physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.

That evening, however, she wasn't the only one seeking solitude in that garden. Jiraiya had decided that would be a good place to sit for a few drinks and look up at the stars before heading out for his next mission. Needless to say, he was more than surprised to find the beautiful woman that had monopolized his non-duty related thoughts sleeping on the ground.

He walked over to her and crouched down to have a better look. He half-expected her to wake from his presence but in fact, she seemed to relax a little and didn't stir as he observed her eyes darting beneath her eyelids and the way her breath came in slow, shallow breaths. Seeing her like that made him want to hold her.

Carefully, a minute or so later, he nudged her, "Calixta," he quietly called.

She stirred at the sound of her own name and her eyes fluttered open a moment later. "Jiraiya?" she blinked up at him as though she thought she was dreaming.

"Good evening," he greeted somewhat ironically.

She looked around nervously as she remembered why she had been sleeping there in the first place. "Ah, good evening," she managed to reply as she sat up, brushing some of the stray foliage from her clothes and hair.

"So, Kakashi kick you out or somethin'?" he teasingly proposed and the immediately regretted it because of the deer-in-the-headlights look she gave him.

She almost started running again but when she saw how ready he was to stop her from such an action the idea left her mind. "No… not exactly," she managed.

"You wanna talk about it?" he proposed, offering her his sake.

"I dunno," she shrugged but accepted the small jug with a thank you. This time, the face she made was actually less bitter than the expression she was making due to her mood. "What do you think of Kakashi-sensai?" she asked carefully after a quiet sputter from the burn of the alcohol.

Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow. "He's a good man, from what I've seen, and a good teacher. Excellent taste in fiction," he remarked offhandedly.

She sighed and nodded. "I've never had anyone like him in my life before. I don't know what to do sometimes and I think it really frustrates him."

"Being frustrating for your sensai is part of being his student," Jiraiya commented. "But I'm sure you're fine. You're a very considerate person."

She didn't really respond to that.

"What's bothering you?" he pressed honestly.

"I feel…betrayed," she told him sadly.

"By Kakashi?" he surmised.

She nodded and felt the tears start to sting her eyes again.

"May I ask what he did?"

"He," she paused to think of the right way to put it, "I found him going through some of my most personal things."

"Aw, Kakashi's just a perv. Don't get so bent out of shape for him trying to sneak a peek at your panty drawer," he dismissed.

She laughed a little at that, "If only it was that!"

Jiraiya liked that idea but not what it implied. "Then what?"

"I write…sometimes…when no one else is around," she elaborated painfully. "No one has ever seen a word of it until today."

It was obvious that she felt extremely violated. "I see. I'm sure he only did it-"

"To know me better," she finished for him. "Yes, I realize that."

"Then you should try to forgive him," Jiraiya advised. "He is after all only human."

"I know…I just felt so…I had to get out of there. I was furious with him and afraid I would do something I would regret. I know I shouldn't have been. Hell, if that's the first time he's been through my things, I'd be surprised."

"I'm surprised you caught him," he commented. "Perhaps he wanted you to catch him?"

"I don't think so. He looked so startled when he saw me, unless that was part of the rouse too."

"Do you think that if you opened up to him more, he wouldn't have invaded your privacy like that?"

"I dunno. We've spent so much time together but…I guess neither of us knows the other very well," she sighed. "But he makes me so uncomfortable. I feel like everything I do is under scrutiny."

He nodded with understanding. "That's probably because it is."

"Thank you for waking me. It would have been very foolish to sleep the night here," she shyly laughed a little.

Her laughter warmed his heart more than the sake he'd been sipping. "Not at all. I've spent many an evening here."

"Oh? With whom?"

He gave her an odd look. "By myself."

"Oh," she appeared startled. "Am I intruding?"

He laughed a little, "Not at all. In fact, I consider finding you here to be a very pleasant surprise."

"Oh. What's it like?"

"What's what like? Finding you here?" he questioned.

"Oh, no," she giggled, "Not that. I meant, spending time by yourself. Do you enjoy it?"

"Sometimes it's nice to get away from everyone. I find the occasional solitude very relaxing when I need to think," he replied wistfully.

"That must be nice," she looked away, toward one of the flower plots nearby.

"You don't get much time alone?" he surmised.

"Not exactly. I'm not supposed to be alone for very long," she admitted shamefully.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"It's bad for me," was all she could manage at first. "I need people around."

"We all need people, we're social creatures, all of us," he eased.

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better," she told him, still staring at the flowers.

"It doesn't seem like I'm doing a very good job," he half-grumbled.

"Just seeing your face made me feel better," she told him with a shy little smile.

He felt his heart flutter again and part of him wondered if this was some sort of trick but the look in her eyes told him otherwise. "You flatter me."

"I never noticed those flowers before," she looked back to the flower plot.

"They only bloom at night. During the day, they just look like green sticks," he mused, handing the sake back to her.

She accepted it without thinking. "They're marvelous."

"Just like you," he mused quietly.

"Now you're the flatterer," she mused with equal quietness to let him know she could hear him.

"I only speak the truth," he replied and then he noticed the strange little smile she was wearing. "What's that look for?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about Kakashi-sensai. Even if he reads every page in that trunk, he'll still be left wanting," she smirked.

"Oh? How's that?"

She gave him a curious look. "I'd rather not say," she blushed a little.

"Fair enough. Gimme a kiss instead?" he proposed, pointing to his cheek, which was already starting to turn rosy with intoxication.

She giggled at him and grabbed him by the cheeks again to plant a firm, warm kiss on his lips. Then, she breathed a sigh. It was almost a chuckle and leaned upward to plant a softer, sweeter kiss on his forehead. However, much of the sweetness of her gesture was lost because her chest was so close to his face.

Jiraiya made a stupid little sound as his hands reached up to cradle her heavy bosom. Again, he was expecting a slap and received none. She gave a heated gasp and look down at him without pulling away.

"Ah, you're so forward," she blushingly awed.

"I was under the impression you were somewhat used to forward men, and women for that matter," he added offhandedly.

"I-I-," she stammered as she felt her blush quickly spreading, "Not here I'm not, this village has been different," she managed after the first couple of squeezes.

He would have backed off if she had given any indication that she wanted him to. "Heh, I've always been a little different in that department," he mused.

"I guess that makes two of us," she mused and then, since it was a little awkward for her to just sit there and get groped, she kissed him again.

This was very much to his delight and he pulled her into his lap. She was smaller than most of the women he'd been with and fit very well into his lap. They were content like that for some time until his hand reached into her shirt and felt, in addition to what he was after, paper.

"Hm?" he broke their kiss to look down at his discovery, "What's this?" he pulled at the corner until it came into view.

She gasped and he felt his heart skip a beat. "It's…what Kakashi-sensai is looking for. Well, he didn't know that when he started but I'm sure that's what it became a search for," she half-mused.

"Is that why you keep it on you? So he can't find it?"

She nodded guiltily.

"I suppose that clinches it," Jiraiya greedily concluded.

"Clinches what?" she blinked curiously.

"Oh, I ran into Kakashi the other day and when I asked, he said that the two of you weren't…well, intimate, so to speak," he made a crude gesture for emphasis.

She gave an odd look. "He said that?"

"Was he lying? I mean, I don't really care who you're with as long as they don't care about me," he reasoned.

"It's not like that," she told him.

"That's exactly what he said," Jiraiya chidingly reported, though he hadn't completely stopped groping her.

She appeared disappointed.

"It looks like you were hoping it was like that." This time he stopped groping.

"No, well, ugh, I don't know," she suddenly went limp, allowing her head to fall and rest on one of his broad shoulders with a heavy sigh.

"Why don't you tell me what it is like then?" he proposed, running his fingers through her hair to ease them both.

"I'm sure you'd rather not hear about my affairs with others," she dismissed.

Jiraiya shrugged. "I want to hear about you."

She lifted her head and gave him a look of shock. "Do you really mean that?" she asked quietly.

He was only able to hear her because her mouth was so close to his ear when he spoke. "I don't say things I don't mean."

"Have you ever…had sex with someone out of obligation?"

"No, I don't think so. It's happened during the course of covert missions but it was hardly an obligation. Are you saying you're obliged to sleep with Kakashi?"

"Ah, well, no. Not exactly. It's more like the other way around," she couldn't maintain eye contact as she spoke.

"How is that?"

"Because of the nature of my abilities and how difficult my chakra is to control…I require certain…activities on a regular basis in order to…maintain my stability," she carefully explained.

"Oh? That's very interesting. And Kakashi, as your sensei and guardian, is charged with helping you maintain those activities?"

"That would be the case," she sighed.

"And you don't think he wants to?"

"It doesn't matter if he wants to. He does it because he has to. It's all so stupid."

"Not at all. I can see where your tension is coming from. Perhaps getting out and socializing a little more might do you some good," he suggested.

"I've been working on that. This latest stage of training has been very good for that," she half-joked but then grew slightly saddened again.

"What's that look for?" he chided because he had just breathed a sigh of relief at her smile starting to return.

"Oh, I was just thinking that it wouldn't be as bad if he'd let me give back a little more. He does so much, gives so much…" she trailed off because she knew she didn't have to continue.

"But I've heard that you do all his cooking and cleaning. Naruto even brags about how good your cooking is."

"I don't mind all that. It gives me something to do and it's not like he expects it. I don't do it when I don't feel like it," she shrugged. "Actually, I've started to hold back on some of that because I think it bothers him."

"Well, you're his student, not his significant other. He's probably concerned about giving you the wrong impression."

She rolled his eyes. "You've never seen us together so I'll just let you know, he makes it perfectly clear that he and I are not romantically involved and that's fine. I don't want romance with Kakashi-sensai."

"What do you want then?" Jiraiya couldn't help asking as he handed the bottle back to her.

Calixta pursed her lips for a moment before taking a contemplative sip. The alcohol wasn't any less bitter than the first time she tried it but her reactions were becoming less and less intense as she became accustomed to it. "It's not like I don't want to be his student anymore. He's been so incredibly patient with me that I couldn't possibly ask for anything better…but I want a lover who doesn't operate out of obligation. I mean, he doesn't even let me-" she started to babble but stopped herself suddenly.

"Doesn't let you what?" Jiraiya prompted lecherously.

She gave him a weird look. "Are you sure you wanna talk about this?" she questioned.

As far as Jiraiya was concerned, whether or not he wanted to talk about it wasn't the issue anymore. It was obvious to him that she needed someone to talk to and he was the only one who made himself available to her in a way that she was receptive to. There was no doubt in his mind that there were probably a number of others who could have taken up this charge but, as luck would have it, it fell to him. "After stopping so suddenly, you've made me very curious," he teasingly answered.

"He doesn't encourage me to…reciprocate his actions or take certain kinds of initiative."

"You have a superb knack for being vague, my dear," he continued to tease as he continued to drink.

"He does all these amazingly wonderful things to me and he won't even let me give him a handjob," she blurted out.

That made Jiraiya laugh heartily, nearly knocking her off his lap.

"Isn't it idiotic?" she continued.

It took a moment for him to catch his breath to respond and even when he did, he was still wiping tears from his eyes. "Well…yes but no," he managed.

"That's the worst answer ever!" she playfully punched him in the chest.

He laughed again, this time at himself, "I suppose it is. Let me try to explain."

"Yes, please do," she teasingly prompted. Even though this was a subject that has caused her much discomfort, she felt oddly at ease speaking with this person about it.

"Well, it's idiotic because you're marvelously attractive, among the other lovely qualities I've discovered in you. It's not because I'm sure he feels you're just as obligated as he is. He probably doesn't want to push you into anything you wouldn't want to do." When he saw her about to argue with that he added, "Even if it's your offer."

She still didn't like that. "I understand that but…oh, I don't know. He's just so frustrating," she banged her head on his shoulder. "I just feel like…like he's afraid of losing control of me or something, like I'll just start doing jutsu on him or something and…ugh," she sighed. "I just want him to feel as good as I do when we're together. I mean, sometimes he doesn't even let me get him off. He just takes care of me and leaves."

He gave an affectionate chuckle and ran his fingers through her hair again. "Maybe you should just do it. Don't be discouraged by him. If he looks like he wants to get off, then do it."

She appeared appalled by that. "I couldn't do such a thing to him. He's been too good to me to ignore his wishes. For whatever reason, he doesn't want me. I just have to accept that."

"You know, you could relieve some of his burden by seeking satisfaction elsewhere," he suggested.

"I know…I'm just worried that it would turn into the same thing."

He nodded with understanding. "That's a reasonable concern," he admitted. "Here, why don't you let me distract you from him for a night? I'm sure you've realize that I'm not averse to your advances."

She gave a shy but still rather sly little smile before kissing him again. "Yeah, okay." With that, she was as forward with him as she wanted to be. Sometimes that meant grabbing him, pulling him impossibly close, and groping him through and under his clothes. Other times, that meant sitting back a bit and allowing him to do as he pleased. All this resulted in them coupling in that garden, beneath the large tree and lying beneath its canopy, breathless for several long minutes afterward.

As far as Jiraiya was concerned, that could have been contested as the best love-making session he'd ever participated in and he couldn't help staring stupidly upward as the euphoria slowly faded. She was so perceptive and so animated that he had significant difficulty thinking of a rival for her.

"Mmmm…that was wonderful, thank you," she told him as she cuddled against him.

His head was still spinning and his initial reply was only a vague nod. "Indeed," he managed after a moment of thought. "You know," he told her once he could sit up again and grab his sake, "I wouldn't mind helping you out more often if it suited you," he offered.

She gave him a wide smile and he felt his stomach flip-flop for a moment before she hugged him gently. "That would be very nice."

They drank until she passed out and, since he was still reasonably sober, he carried her back to Kakashi's if only because he knew of no other place to take her.

He knocked on Kakashi's front door a little while later and heard someone stumbling to get to the door inside.

"Ji-Jiraiya?" Kakashi squinted out the door when he answered it. His scarf was down and his bandana askew, leaving his sharingan partially exposed, and he looked a little disoriented.

"Kakashi, good evening," the older man greeted with a wide smile.

"What's all this?" he motioned to the woman sleeping in the larger man's arms.

"Oh, I just happened upon her and thought I'd bring her back to you," he replied simply. "May I come in?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Kakashi stepped aside, feeling very foolish. "Her room's back this way," he led the older man back to her bedroom where she was tucked into her bed and allowed to rest peacefully. "Thanks for bringing her back," Kaksashi said after her door was closed.

"It was nothing, really," Jiraiya looked at the door as though he could see through it to the sleeping woman inside.

"Would you like a drink, since you're here?" Kakashi was slowly remembering his manners.

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged and followed the younger man to the table where he had obviously already been drinking. He picked up the bottle of sake that was sitting on the table to find it over half-finished as Kakashi retrieved a second saucer for his guest.

"Where did you find her?" he asked when he sat down with his guest.

Jiraiya described the spot.

"Oh, yeah, I know that garden. The one with the night bloomers, right?" Kakashi managed.

"That's the one."

"What was she doing?"

"Well, when I happened upon her, she was quite asleep but she woke up shortly after I arrived and we talked for a while," he shrugged.

"You talked?" Kakashi scoffed.

"Among other things," she winked.

The younger man gave a nod. That was much more what he was expecting. "What did you talk about?"

Jiraiys smirked. "You, mostly."

Kakashi had a feeling that was the case.

"Looks like you could you could use someone to talk to as well," the older man chided.

"What makes you say that?" the younger defensively questioned.

"'Cause I know from experience that sake bottles are terrible listeners," he motioned to the bottle with a slight laugh.

"What did she tell you?" Kakashi pressed.

Jiraiya shook his head. "What do you think she told me?"

Kakashi looked away.

"Did you want her to catch you?"

"Not really," Kakashi admitted. "I was so caught up in reading what she'd written that I didn't hear her come back. I was an idiot," he sighed.

"Yeah, she thinks you're pretty idiotic too," Jiraiya laughed and when Kakashi grumbled he continued, "but that's not why."

"Oh?" Kakashi dryly prompted.

"Yeah, she can't figure out why you don't let her do more for you," he elaborated.

The younger man breathed a sigh of frustration. "She's not supposed to be doing things for me," he insisted.

"Yes, well perhaps not officially but would it really hurt to let her do a few things every now and then?" he proposed.

"She does plenty already, more than she should," Kakashi commented before taking another sip.

"This really got to you, didn't it?"Jiraiya took his sip in turn.

Kakashi didn't want to answer that. "I don't usually drink this much, if that's what you mean," was his reply.

"That was one indication," the older man shrugged. "That…and the fact that you weren't out looking for her."

"It wouldn't have helped to chase after her," the younger shrugged.

"Are you sure she wasn't hoping you'd chase her?"

"With her…I'm not very sure about anything but you can sort of tell by the way someone slams a door whether or not they want you to follow them. No, she wanted nothing more than to get away from me."

Jiraiya frowned at that. "She's much less angry with you now."

"Thank you for that."

"How are you going to make it up to her?"

Kakashi shook his head a little and took another drink. He had been debating whether trying to make it up to her was a good idea. "I dunno if I should even try."

The older man frowned.

"You think I should."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

"If that's what you think, there's no changing your mind. You've already had too much to drink to argue about that kind of thing. It's just what I would do if I knew someone felt as betrayed by me as she feels toward you."

"Betrayed. Is that the word she used?" Kakashi looked out the window to avoid eye-contact.

"At least once. I didn't bother to count," he shrugged. "She just needed some time to get over how upset she was."

"I hope you're right."

"Well, you look pretty beat. I'm gunna take off," Jiraiya stood and announced without warning.

"Night," Kakashi called as his guest showed himself out and stumbled to bed.

They both woke late the following morning. She woke before him and was surprised that the whistle of the tea kettle didn't wake him. She finished her tea, cleaned up the dishes he left out from the night before, and waited another hour before attempting to wake him. In fact, she wasn't sure he was even there. However, when she pressed her ear against his bedroom door, she could hear him sleeping inside.

Without knocking, she carefully, quietly opened his door and peeked inside to find him sprawled out on his bed, half dressed. She couldn't help thinking how adorable he looked like that but when she did, she saw him stir, giving a little whimper. Since his scarf was bunched up around his neck, she got to see the slightest of smiles start to tug at the corners of his mouth.

With that, she couldn't help approaching, silently closing his door behind her. As she drew closer, she pulled off her shirt and bra but left the rest of her clothes on. She stood at the side of his bed for a long minute, simply watching him sleep because it warmed her heart unimaginably to see him so peaceful. However, that feeling unaccompanied by appropriate action caused him to stir again, this time into waking.

He cracked an eye to see the presence he felt near him. "Calixta?" he squinted up at her.

"Shhh…" she drew closer until she could reach his barely-on bandana, "May I?" she lightly dragged her fingertips over the leaf symbol.

He gave her a strange look but didn't argue so she did what she wanted. Though, it wasn't quite what he was expecting, which was for her to pull it up off over his head. Rather, she pulled it down over his eyes. "Huh?" he reached a sleepy hand up to push it out of the way again but he felt a gentle hand on his wrist a moment before she kissed him. This caused him to lace his fingers with hers instead of trying to pull away because he was severely hung-over and the darkness was actually preferable to the light of day that poured in through his window.

He didn't get to see the way she awed down at him but he could feel it because she was holding back her actions. It wasn't because she necessarily wanted to but because now that he couldn't see, she didn't want to startle him. She liked him like this, lethargic, compliant, and wanted it to last as long as possible. "You're going to let me do whatever I want to you and I'm not going to have to use my jutsu to do it," she told him evenly when her lips reached his ear.

She felt a shiver go through him as she spoke and he could only nod in response. "Good," she told him with a sureness that he had rarely heard from her as she finished undressing him. "Tell me, why did you go through my trunk?" she asked when she exposed his growing erection.

"I was curious about you so I went snooping," he admitted.

"Was that the first time you went snooping?" she pressed as she began to coax him to his full length with her amble bosom.

He groaned a little at the feeling before answering. "The second," he admitted.

"I suppose that is a lot of reading for one sitting," she mused lightly before flicking her tongue out to tease the swelling head of his cock as it emerged from between her breasts.

"Indeed it is. Is that everyone you've ever met?"

"No…sadly, no," she sighed a little. "Many of my records have been destroyed over the years…or else there might be a second trunk," she half-joked. "Did you mean for me to catch you?"

He laughed a little at that. "Unfortunately, no," he admitted.

"Was your curiosity satisfied?" she continued to ask even though he was now completely hard with precum beading from the slit in the tip.

He laughed again, "Yes and no," he answered between breaths.

"Oh? How do you mean?" she pressed.

"Yes because I got to know a lot more about you, or at least how you perceive others. No because there seemed to be something missing," he dryly answered between pants.

Then it was her turn to laugh.

"This is cruel, you know that right?" he teasingly chided.

"Oh? What's that?"

He gave a groan of mock-frustration. "Interrogating me like this, it's not fair."

She paused for a moment to see if he really felt that way. It was the first time she'd used any of her abilities on him without permission but she had to know. He didn't get to see her smirk when she realized that he was actually rather impressed with her. All he got was the faint feeling of her chakra probing him for a brief moment.

"What was that? I thought you weren't going to-?" his words stopped mid-sentence when she started to gently suckle the head of his cock while rhythmically lifting and squeezing her breasts around his shaft.

"Shut up and cum for me," she ordered between sucks and was rewarded a minute later with him cumming in her mouth.

He knew he shouldn't have been, but he was mildly surprised by how eagerly she sucked every last drop from his shaft before retreating from him. When they were no longer in physical contact, Kakashi reached a slow, lazy hand up to his bandana. He hesitated for a moment to allow her time to stop him if she wished before lifting it on one side to see her.

"I'm going out. Do you need anything?" she told him as she carefully redressed so as not to reveal the papers she kept hidden in her blouse.

Kakashi's head was still spinning. "Ah…no…I don't think so…" he muttered.

She nodded and headed for the door, still licking her lips a little.

"Hey, so am I crazy or didn't you write about me?" Kakashi managed to call after her when her hand was on the door.

"You might be crazy," she giggled a little and let him feel how pleasing it was for her to tell him that. "Either way…I doubt you'll find it," she told him as she exited.

Well, at least he knew that the thing he'd been searching for actually existed. On the other hand, it was out there and she thought it was hidden well enough that he would be incapable of locating it. He didn't resume his search that day but he planned to the next time he thought it was safe to search.

She was gone for most of that day but, returned for dinner that evening and, appeared to be in a fairly good mood.

"Another date with Ebisu? Or perhaps it was Jiraiya this time?" Kakashi half-teased when he saw she was in good humor.

She laughed a little. "No, I'm afraid not," she replied, putting on a kettle of tea.

"Regardless, it appears that you succeeded in your fifth conquest after all," the silver-haired man began.

"Fifth? But I never-?" she stopped to think. Number five had been Jiraiya and after last night, she had disregarded that mission in favor of forming a more genuine relationship with the older man.

"Master Jiraiya brought you back last night. You were asleep so I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"Oh? Does that count?" she asked incredulously.

"It counts enough for you to move on. Maybe try one of the more perceptive young people in the village," he suggested.

"Oh," she shrugged and accepted his determination. "Okay."

"I can't tell you how surprised I was to see him bringing you here like that. You must have put some spell on him," Kakashi continued teasing.

She shot him an odd look.

"Is that why you were so forward with me earlier? Was it something he said?" he pressed.

She smirked a little. "You know me better than you think," she told him.

"I know Jiraiya," Kakashi corrected rather pointedly and it caused her to pout a little. "What did he tell you?"

She blushed. "I don't really remember," she sheepishly replied.

Kakashi cocked a curious eyebrow. "Really? He might be disappointed to hear you say that."

As they spoke, she was recalling the evening but it was coming in fits and spurts of sights, sounds, feelings, emotions, everything was a bit of a jumble. However, overall it gave her a warm feeling inside to remember the evening. "Oh, I remember the important parts," she replied impishly.

"So you two did have some fun. Good for you," he encouraged.

She blushed again but this time not as deeply.

"I wanted to ask you, but I didn't really get the chance yesterday, have you ever written anything decidedly negative about anyone?" Kakashi asked genuinely.

"What do you mean?" she blinked curiously at him.

"Well, since you caught me I feel like I can ask you. You don't seem to have written anything bad about anybody. I was wondering if that was intentional," he elaborated carefully.

"Just how much reading did you do?" she asked, shaking her head in exasperation. "I just write what I feel. I don't think about whether it's good or bad or whatever. It just is. That's all that matters, right?" she proposed.

He gave her an odd look that made her very uncomfortable.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she shifted in her seat.

He shook his head, much the way she had a moment ago. "It's nothing," he dismissed.

She obviously didn't believe him. "You're a terrible liar sometimes, ya know that?"

"How do you know I'm not a terrible liar all the time?"

"I don't," she shrugged. "That's why I'm hedging on that one. I'd like to believe that if you're as good a ninja as you say, that you could give me a bald-faced lie I'd believe."

He would like to believe that too and generally it would be true but with her he wasn't so sure. "So you don't feel negatively toward anyone?" he tried again.

This time, it was her turn to give an odd look. "Why are you asking me such strange questions?"

"Because I've never bothered to ask them before," he shrugged. "Humor me."

"I suppose I have but why would I want to keep a record of such feelings? I write to remember that there are good things and to sort out the way I feel," she answered.

"So you have felt badly toward someone before?"

"Well, of course. Isn't that part of being human?" She shook her head in exasperation again. "Though sometimes I may wonder to what degree I resemble the rest of humanity, I know I am human," she almost laughed at herself but held it back.

He felt her sad laugh and gave into it himself so that she didn't have to.

"But, I think I understand what you're getting at now. So, I'll say that by and large, I find it difficult to see bad things in people. I know they're there. Everyone has them but when I look at other people, I see their goodness and little else," she finally answered, knowing that she had been putting him off and wondering if he realized it too. It was very likely that he did.

"Why did you say anything about that?" Kakashi wondered aloud.

She quirked an eyebrow. "What do you see when you look at people?" she genuinely questioned.

"I see…people. They're not good or bad until they prove otherwise," he answered. "But it's not just people for you, is it? It's other stuff too, right?" he pressed now that she was giving him real answers.

"Other stuff? What kinds of other stuff are we talkin' about here?" she laughed a little to lighten the mood and it seemed to work.

"Anything. Art, nature, food?" he tried.

She gave a non-committal shrug. "I suppose that's true."

"Fascinating," he tried not to marvel too much. This certainly explained her reluctance to use her powers as most ninja would. Though, most ninja hadn't had the life she had.

"Really?" It didn't sound like she believed him.

"Quite," he answered simply.

"If you say so," she almost grumbled as she finished their dinner preparations.

"You don't believe me," he surmised.

"Oh, I believe you. I just don't understand it, that's all," she told him as she handed him the dishes to set the table.

Now more than ever he wanted to read what she had written about him. Before this conversation, he hadn't thought that to be possible but the idea that it wouldn't contain any of his truly negative aspects just made it all the more appealing. "I'm leaving for a few days starting tomorrow. I would have given you more notice if that's what I had gotten," he dryly mused when he suddenly remembered.

"Oh? Another exciting mission?" she teased.

"So it seems and I'll be taking my team with me so Sasuke won't be around to check up on you this time," he half-teased back.

"Good!" she scoffed.

"Oh, come now. The two of you are getting along better now than I've ever seen," Kakashi pointed out.

"So do I get to throw a big house party while you're gone then?"

He cringed. With her ability to gather people she could very well destroy his home. "I'd really rather you didn't. But if you wanted to have someone over, that'd be just fine," he answered almost parentally.

She giggled and saw the shiver it caused in him, "Sorry about that. That's the hardest one to control so far," she admitted.

"D-" was as far as he got before she corrected herself.

"Well, not sorry, but you know," she covered.

"That's better and it's okay, really. It's completely inoffensive to say the least," he managed. In actuality, it was probably the best feeling he'd ever experienced while not in physical contact with another body.

She quirked an odd look but didn't argue.

"I trust you'll be sufficiently entertained in my absence then?" he chided.

"I'm sure I'll manage." She served their meals a few minutes later and they were nearly half done before she said what was on her mind since she left that morning. "Sorry for sort of attacking you this morning," she blushed, stirring her noodles because she didn't want to make eye contact.

He laughed at that. "Please, don't apologize for that. It was unexpected but I'm sure you could tell I enjoyed myself," he managed.

Her blush deepened. "Well, I'm glad," she resolutely replied in spite of her obvious embarrassment.

"What made you do it?" he pressed willfully.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she countered with matched will.

"Well, I did ask," he replied.

"I've wanted to do that since the first morning I woke up here," she answered frankly.

"R-Really?"

"Now you're the one who doesn't believe me," she chided.

"Oh, I didn't say that," he managed even though he was now also blushing a little. "I'm just surprised."

She didn't think he should be surprised at all.

"If it took you nearly a year just to do that than Ebisu might be kind of disappointed," he teased.

"That's completely different," she scoffed.

"If you say so. I don't think I've ever met such a prudish pervert as you."

They both laughed at that. "Now you know I can't just go around being a perv like you and everyone else. People will think I'm up to something,"

"I think the people here are getting used to you. You'll be able to be yourself in no time."

"Myself?" she repeated in a quiet, near awe. "Who's that?" she rolled her eyes.

He didn't like that response. "Don't be like that. It's okay if you're still figuring out who that person is," he eased and she seemed to appreciate that. "Besides that's a terrible attitude to have for going out for dessert."

She smiled a little and shook her head. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

***

It seemed that they could not go out together without running into someone that Kakashi knew. This was of no special surprise since he knew nearly everyone in the village but it still seemed to surprise her.

This time it was Kiba out for the same after-dinner treat. But they didn't get to see him right away. The first thing they saw was Akamaru barreling toward them, more specifically toward Calixta.

The little white dog ran up to her and leapt up onto her. He was lucky that she was quick to catch him or he would have simply bounced off her breasts and landed gracelessly to the ground.

"Oh! My goodness! Who in the world are you?" she greeted the canine warmly, letting him lick her face.

"Akamaru!" Kiba emerged from the ice cream stand, chasing after his pup. "I'm so sorry! He's not usually like this!" he reached for his dog but it didn't want to leave her arms.

"It seems he likes you," Kakashi teased.

"Akamaru! Down!," Kiba scolded again and the dog gave a reluctant whine.

"Oh, if you don't mind, he's just fine. Absolutely adorable in fact," she doted on the dog.

"He doesn't usually jump on people like that," Kiba tried again. Actually, he'd never known his dog to jump on anyone but him and maybe his closest family members. He would have been put off by this except his dog had happened to pick the most attractive young woman he'd ever seen.

"So if this is Akamaru, then you are?" she prompted the young man.

"Ah, Kiba, Kiba Inuzuka," he managed after a moment.

"It looks like we're headed for the same place," Kakashi noted where the teen had emerged from and started walking again. As they walked, Calixta and Kakashi exchanged meaningful looks. He wanted her to test her power on this young man because of how receptive his dog was to her. Usually the beast was protective so this was a definite change.

She giggled when the pup began to lick her cheeks again and they both saw the boy and his dog react to the sound. Kiba shivered and Akamaru melted in her arms, something that made the owner more than a little jealous because of the way her breasts pillowed the dog's head.

He didn't try to get Akamaru back while they ordered their ice cream cones and when Calixta and Kiba were seated at one of the tables off to the side of the shop, Kakashi ducked out for a few minutes, citing that he saw someone he knew across the street and saying he would be back shortly. He had seen someone he knew but really it was an excuse to give the two younger individuals a few moments alone.

"So, what team are you two on?" Calixta inquired as they licked their ice cream. Well, she was doing more licking than he was. He was so fascinated by her that his was melting more than he was eating it.

"Team 8," he explained his team and she seemed more interested than he thought she would be.

"They sound wonderful. I'd love to meet them sometime," she smile wistfully at the descriptions he provided her.

"I'll introduce you, if we get the chance," he managed in spite of how his stomach flip-flopped at her smile.

Then, she took a particularly long lick off her ice cream to see how he would react. She wasn't disappointed. He barely held back his nose bleed, however slight, but his dog, on the other hand, wasn't as self-contained. He could sense his owner's tension and took action in the form of trying to burry himself between her breasts.

She made a girly squeal of surprise as he dove down her shirt.

"Akamaru!" Kiba scolded. He couldn't believe his eyes, which were bugging out of his head. "Get out of there!"

She giggled and squirmed, mostly because the dog's nose was cold and wet on one of her warmer body parts.

When his dog still wouldn't come to him, Kiba, without thinking, reached for him. He didn't realize what he was doing until his hands had touched her chest. He did manage to extract his whining dog but not without blushing so deeply that his facial markings nearly disappeared.

Her giggle continued when she saw how mortified he was. "It's quite alright, really," she tried to ease.

"I can't believe he did that," Kiba couldn't even look at her anymore he was so embarrassed.

"It's okay," she patted him on the head as he zipped the pup into his jacket. "I promise," she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead.

Unfortunately for Kiba, he happened to look down just as she did that and caught a peek down her shirt, making his dog go for it once again. This time, he didn't escape his owner's grasp but he did manage to cause the young man to stumble forward and right into her, giving Akamaru what he wanted.

"Ack!" Kiba stumbled backward from her and fell on his butt. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him tonight!" he managed from his prone position on the ground.

"Oh, my dear!" she didn't listen to his apology. "Here, let me help you up," she leaned over and reached out a hand.

Kiba thought his head was going to explode. "Uh, no, that's okay. I got it," he stood and made sure he was a good few feet away. Luckily for him, Kakashi was on his way back.

"What happened here?" the older man asked playfully when he saw the pair standing with their ice cream on the ground.

"I'm really sorry, Kakashi-sensei. Akamaru sort of got kinda excited and we dropped'em," Kiba explained.

"Oh, well that's alright. Here," he took them back over to the stand and got them each a new ice cream cone.

"Thank you very much, Kakashi-sensei," Kiba managed as he accepted the substitute for the one he'd carelessly dropped while retrieving his dog in a panic.

"It's nothing," the older man dismissed. "Calixta, are you ready to go?"

"I think so," she nodded and then turned to the younger man, "It was nice to meet you, Kiba-san," she smiled, "And you too, Akamaru," she winked and patted the dog on the head.

"Uh," Kiba's brain stopped for a second, "Yeah, you too," he gave a silly little smile as they parted ways.

"How'd it go?" Kakashi asked when he knew for sure he was out of earshot of the boy and his dog, both of which had exceptional hearing.

"It went well," she smiled a little at her sensei.

"Looks like you had him pretty good," Kakashi teased.

"It was easy," she admitted somewhat reluctantly.

"Oh? Why's that?" he questioned curiously.

"The dog," she replied simply.

"I thought that would be an obstacle for you, honestly."

She shrugged. "Animals like me."

"Obviously," Kakashi chuckled.

"Though if I hadn't started with the dog, it may not have worked as well. They are very close, _very_ close," she explained.

"That they are."

"Adorable puppy though," she mused. "It seems to respond to him without him having to do anything."

"They have something of an instinctive bond, you might say."


	6. Broadening Horizons

Kakashi had told her the night before leaving for their mission that Sasuke would not be around to check on her, which was fine by her. What he didn't tell her was that he had arranged for someone else to make sure she was okay in his absence. This time, however, it wasn't simply for her sanity. He had another motive.

Early the following morning but after Kakashi had left, there was a knocking on the front door. She ignored it the first time but when it persisted, she drug herself out of bed to answer it. She was so tired that she didn't bother to grab her bathrobe, answering the door in her t-shirt and panties.

"Hello?" she sleepily rubbed her eyes when she opened the door.

"Ah, Calixta-chan!" Guy greeted merrily. His merriment waned slightly when he saw how little she was wearing.

"G-Guy-sensei?" she barely questioned, blinking at the brightness that came through the door.

"I'm glad you still remember me," he teased.

She gave him a strange look. "Kakashi-sensei isn't here. He went on a mission early this morning," she told him, hoping he'd go away so she could go back to sleep.

"I'm aware of that," he answered confidently. "He asked me to-" he tried to explain but was cut off.

She gave a little sound of frustration. "Oh, okay. I get it. You wanna come in?"

"I'm not here for pleasantries," he insisted.

"Of course not, you just gotta make sure I'm okay, right?" she answered. "I'd'a been up if I knew you'd be here so early. Sasuke usually comes for lunch time."

"Not exactly," he looked over his shoulder and saw that one or two of the passersby had stared at them, mostly because of how she answered the door. "Here, why don't I come in and I'll explain," he tried.

She shrugged and let him in, closing the door behind him before going to start a pot of tea. "So, what's the deal then?"

He gave her an awkward look, "Would you mind putting some pants or something on first?"

She blushed deeply, "Ohmygoodness! I was so tired I didn't realize."

He laughed at her embarrassment as she ran off. At first, he thought she did it on purpose but it was clear that this time that was not the case.

When she returned she was fully dressed and combing her hair. "I'd apologize if I were allowed. I hope you can forgive me," she fretted.

"No worries," he shrugged it off.

"So, what's the deal?" she tried again as she poured their tea.

"Kakashi asked me to train you in taijutsu while he was away," Guy answered.

She pursed her lips. "He didn't say anything about that to me. Oh well, I guess I'll give it a shot. It's gotta be better than the other stuff he's had me doing," she nearly scoffed.

Guy nodded in agreement if only because he had been a victim of those activities, "And in exchange you have to explain to my students what your abilities are because they won't stop bugging me about it."

"What?" she nearly choked on her tea. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I don't kid about these kinds of things," he sternly replied.

The sternness of his tone caught her off guard. Kakashi only ever took tones like that when he was displeased with her but it didn't appear that Guy was displeased. "Oh, I see. I'll see what I can do."

"That would be much appreciated," he sighed and finished his cup of tea. "Thanks for the tea. Training starts in an hour at ground B. Don't be late," he told her.

"Or what?" she haughtily called to him as he headed for the door.

"Ask my students," he answered and left.

* * *

She left for the training ground as soon as she was finished cleaning up their tea. She was worried about being late and ended up showing up before any of Team Guy. However, she was joined shortly by Tenten.

"Calixta?" she asked carefully as she approached.

"Tenten-san," the older girl gave a welcoming smile.

"What are you doing here?" the younger inquired carefully.

Calixta gave a shy little smile. "I'm training with your team for a few days while Team 7 is gone."

"I didn't know that," Tenten sat down next to the older girl.

"Neither did I until this morning," Calixta laughed a little. "I hope I won't be too much of a problem."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Between Lee being all super intense and Neji being all cynical, you couldn't cause any worse distractions," Tenten laughed but stopped when she realized that the other girl wasn't laughing with her. "What's the matter?"

Calixta gave a nervous little laugh. "Actually, there's another reason I'm here."

"What's that?"

"I was told that you and your teammates have been asking about my abilities. I've been asked to elaborate on them for you," she managed.

"Really?" Tenten perked up a little.

Calixta looked around to see if they were still alone. "When do the guys usually show up?"

"Any minute now, why?" she answered somewhat anxiously.

"I see. Well, when you arrived I was just debating whether to speak to you all together or if it would be easier to do it one at a time. It'd probably be worse for you guys if I told you all together but it would save me from having to do it three times," she reasoned, mostly to herself and received a concerned look from the young girl sitting next to her. "Oh, don't mind me," she rolled her eyes. "I'll figure something out."

Tenten laughed at her a little, though she wasn't quite sure why, and it seemed to lighten the mood. Just in time too because Neji was approaching them. "Good morning, Neji!" she greeted enthusiastically just in case the girl sitting with her didn't notice him approach.

"Tenten," he nodded quickly before turning to the other girl. "What're you doing here?"

"Calixta-san is training with us this week while Kakashi-sensei is away," Tenten answered for her.

"Hn," was his reply for that.

The girls shrugged and let him be. Lee and Guy arrived shortly after.

"Hey, what's she doin' here, Sensei?" Lee asked as they approached.

Guy didn't answer until he was close enough for all of them to hear. "As you may or may not already know, Calixta-san here will be training with us for a few days this week while Team 7 is on a mission." Then, he outlined the details of their morning training.

To start off, he had his three team members do a teamwork exercise so that he could spend some one-on-one time with Calixta in order to gauge her aptitude for taijutsu. To his surprise, she was extremely strong in that area, her talent was raw but it was definitely there.

"I wasn't expecting you to be as good at this as you are," Guy remarked when she kicked down a small tree.

"Thank you," she gave a slight bow and wiped her forehead. "I don't think Kakashi-sensei expected it either."

"Then why ask me to train you?" Guy chidingly inquired.

"Because I threw something really heavy at him a couple weeks ago. I think that's when he realized I might be good at this."

He laughed a little at that but let it go in favor of broaching something that had been bothering him, "You don't have a leaf-crest," he remarked, as Team 7 tended to wear theirs on their heads.

"I do. Kakashi-sensei gave me one a while back. I just don't feel comfortable wearing it," she answered carefully.

"But why? Aren't you proud of our village?" he loudly challenged.

She flinched at his volume. "No. That's not at all," she looked around to make sure they were alone. "I don't feel worthy to wear it," she admitted, unable to make eye contact.

That shocked him almost to his core, so much so that he untied his own crest from around his waist. "Here," he walked up and wrapped it around her forehead, cinching it securely behind her head where he tied it in a big bow.

She gasped but didn't fight him. She knew there was no fighting this man and that arguing with him would be even less fruitful than arguing with Kakashi. "Why?" was all she could say as she felt the design now in the middle of her forehead.

"Because you've worked hard, and deserve to wear it," he told her evenly.

That caused a deep warmth within her and it was quickly rippling outward through her entire being. It was a feeling that brought tears to her eyes. In an effort to bite the tears back, she screwed he eyes shut.

When he heard her sniffle, he turned her around. "Hey, it's okay," he patted her on the head, hoping to snap her out of it because she was giving him a weird feeling. It wasn't an all together bad feeling, which concerned him even more.

At that, she couldn't hold back any longer. She was afraid of losing so much of herself so quickly and took action so he wouldn't have to suffer her emotions anymore than he already had. She hugged him tighter than anyone she'd ever hugged anyone before, not realizing that it was nearly painful for the older man, regardless of how mighty he might be.

"No one's ever told me that I deserve anything that anybody would ever want," she sobbed into his chest.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the tide of her emotions recede.

Sensing his relief and allowing it to resonate within her and ease her further, she withdrew and wiped he eyes on her sleeve with another sniffle. "Thank you." She blinked the rest of her tears away. "What now?"

He nodded at her resolution, noting that she looked good with a red bandana and started her next exercise. They met the others for lunch a couple hours later and they were all smiles. On their walk back she broached the subject she'd been thinking about that morning.

"Guy-sensei, about speaking to your students. When would you like me to do that?"

"Are you in a hurry or something?" he teased.

"Hardly," she scoffed, "I just want to get it out of the way as soon as possible."

"Ah, I understand. Whenever is convenient for you is fine with me as long as it's not while we're training."

"Of course not," she laughed a little at the suggestion. "It's distracting enough as it is. So, if you wouldn't mind. I would like to take my lunch with Tenten and separately from you and the boys."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"Yes. I want to speak with her first and alone. I'm afraid she'll clam up if any males are present. Young ladies tend to do that. Then, after training, I'd like to speak with Lee and Neji."

"Girl then boys then. Are you sure you want to speak with them together?"

"Would it be better for me to speak with them separately?" she seriously asked.

"Either way. I just wanted to make sure. It's your call. I trust your judgment."

His last four words almost made her heart stop and she stumbled because of it.

"Are you okay?" he felt the sudden pulse from her.

She blinked her tears away and regained her footing. After looking around again and seeing that they were still alone, she made eye contact with him, which was even more intense than she had expected, even from him.

He felt that rush coming over him again and he pulled her into a tight embrace. He felt her shake for a moment before regaining her composure and withdrawing from him once again. She looked up at him with an odd look in her eyes. He could tell she wanted to say something but was holding it back.

"What is it?" he prompted hopefully.

"I want to apologize to you for behaving so foolishly," she answered.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned almost playfully.

"Of course," she bowed slightly and they continued their walk from there.

"I hope Kakashi-sensei warned you about my…emotional outbursts," she managed.

"Don't worry about that," Guy dismissed because he had been given a full briefing before agreeing to take her in.

She gave a confident nod and they met up with the others who had just arrived themselves.

"Okay, we're gunna break for lunch now," Guy announced victoriously.

"Hey, Tenten, why don't we ditch these guys and have a girls' lunch?" Calixta suggested mischievously.

"Hey! That's not fair! We eat together when we train!" Lee argued noisily.

"It's okay Lee," Guy eased.

"I don't wanna listen to girl-talk anyway," Neji turned toward their usual ramen cart.

Tenten eagerly followed the older girl in the opposite direction. "Where are we going?"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd choose. Someplace quiet, maybe?" Calixta offered.

"Okay. Is it 'cause you wanna talk?" she questioned with childish curiousness.

"Yeah, that's it," she nodded.

They sat down at the table and made their orders before starting their conversation.

"I'd like to ask you a couple of questions first," she began.

"Yeah. Okay. I guess that's fair."

"Okay, please don't be offended. Do you like girls or boys…or both?" she shrugged.

Tenten's eyes nearly bugged out. It took her almost a minute to answer, which was apparently fine by the older girl sitting across from her. "Um…both, kinda…I guess…"

"Good for you. Don't limit your options," she encouraged. "So, okay, this is probably more awkward but do you have…physical feelings for your crushes sometimes?"

Tenten blushed harder than she'd ever blushed before. "Y-Yeah," she replied, praying that it was relevant.

Calixta breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. That makes this a lot easier." Then, after their food came, she explained herself.

"So…you can like seduce anybody?" Tenten carefully proposed when they were nearly finished.

"Well, not anybody. Obviously some people will be more difficult than others.

"Oh. What about Lee and Neji?" she suddenly asked.

"What about them?"

"Could you do it to them?" she pressed.

Calixta appeared startled. "I dunno. I never tried," she shrugged it off.

"Oh, okay. What about Guy-sensei?" she curiously continued.

"I don't think so," she assuredly lied.

"Huh. That's really weird," she told the older girl.

"You're telling me," she scoffed.

They finished and were back to the training ground before the guys.

"So…why are you wearing Guy-sensai's crest?" she asked carefully when she realized they still had the time.

"Oh, he gave it to me when he saw I wasn't wearing one of my own," she blushed a little. "He's very kind hearted," she managed.

Tenten nodded in agreement and they were approached.

"How was girls' lunch?" Guy half-teased as they approached.

"It was very nice, thank you, sensei," Tenten replied without faltering.

"Good. Then we can get back to training then." With that he paired them off to spar, Tantan with Neji and Calixta with Lee. It gave her some time to get to know the one other member of his team that might open up to her.

"Now, Lee-kun," Guy carefully guided, "Don't be too hard on her at first. This is her first time sparing as far as I know."

The young protégé gave a confident nod and they began. He found her competent with her newly acquired taijutsu but she lacked the tactics to stand a chance against him.

"You're so fast!" she marveled.

"You're not so bad yourself. You sure this is your first time using taijutsu?" he teased.

"You flatter me," she giggled a little even though he had just hit her hard enough to leave a significant bruise. "I know you can tell I've never tried to fight anyone like this before. I don't even have the skills of those little children at the academy."

He wouldn't go that far because all he thought she needed was a few good lessons in tactics to be formidable. "You don't give yourself enough credit," he eased.

"Then don't take it so easy on me," she taunted. "Show me what I have to work up to."

He gave another confident nod and they really started to fight. Of course, he won. He might not have if she had used her new taijutsu with her other abilities but that was not the case. She knew that would be not only unfair to Lee but also interfere with the object of their training.

All this didn't change the fact that he accidentally knocked her out toward the end of their sparing session.

"Ah! Calixta?" he ran up to her prone form after she fell gracelessly to the ground to find that she was simply unconscious. "Hey! Are you okay?" he shook her gently.

She gave a little whimper but didn't wake so he rolled her onto her back and scooped her into his arms. She wasn't much bigger than he was and he was clearly stronger so it wasn't a burden for him to carry her back to his sensei.

As he did, he couldn't help noticing how soft her skin was, or how her breasts jiggled just so with the rhythm of his steps, or the tickle of her warm breath as it passed through her moist, parted, pink lips. It made him blush and he had to stop for a moment to regain his composure before finishing his walk.

"Lee! What's this?" Guy asked when his student approached.

"I guess I got a little carried away. She doesn't block as well as I thought she could," he managed. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. Don't worry. You just knocked her out. She'll be fine," Guy soothed after taking a moment to examine her. "She's just not used to this kind of intense training. Why don't you go find the others and we'll call it a day. You've all worked very hard.

By the time Lee returned with Tenten and Neji, Guy had managed to wake Calixta.

"Ah?" she gasped when her eyes fluttered open. "Wh-What happened? Where's Lee?"

"He accidentally knocked you out but you're fine. I just sent him to get the others," he informed.

It took her a moment to gather her bearings. "How long have I been out?" she asked with marked concern.

"Less than an hour," he answered and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Remind me tomorrow to teach you to block," he teased.

She gave a shy, silly little smile, "Yeah, okay," she agreed.

"You still up for talking to Lee and Neji?"

She gave a rather confident nod. "Yeah, I think so. Though, I can't promise they won't keep asking you questions," she told him carefully.

"I can answer their questions as long as they have direction. I just don't want to explain the basis for it all. I'd rather you did that part."

She nodded again. "I understand. Could you bring them by after dinner?"

"You want to do it at Kakashi's place?"

She shrugged, "Is there a better place?"

Guy considered it for a moment. "I suppose not…as long as you're dressed when they knock," he teased.

She giggled a little at that, unwittingly sending a little shiver up and down his spine. "No problem. I'm sure."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to dinner with us?" Guy offered.

"Thank you but not tonight. I'd like the time to get cleaned up and think about what I want to say or, more appropriately, how I'm going to say it. Any pointers?" she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Keep it simple," was all he could think of, though he wasn't sure if that was possible.

* * *

Guy didn't drop off his two male students. He simply told them when and where to go with the promise of an explanation and they were set.

Calixta was just debating whether or not to make tea when there was a knock on the door. She called for them to come in as she grabbed the tea pot. "Please, have a seat. I'll be right with you."

They did as they were told and were rewarded with a small snack while they waited for the tea.

"So, I heard you've been asking about me," she playfully began.

"Yeah, so what's the deal?" Lee abruptly inquired.

Neji breathed a sigh of irritation at his comrade's lack of eloquence but let it go because he not only broke the ice, he completely shattered it.

She laughed a little at his forwardness. "That is the question isn't it?" she shook her head. "But that's different," she dismissed just as the kettle whistled. "I have to warn you that you may not really like what I have to say," she added when she returned.

"Just get on with it," Neji snapped but received a polite nod in response.

"My abilities are based on attraction, primarily physical attraction. When I first came here, I had no control over the effect my presence had on those who even found me mildly attractive for a moment. Now that I have control, my power centers on the capacity to charm nearly anybody." She told them as best she could though she knew it wasn't her best explanation.

They blinked stupidly at her for a moment.

"Bullshit," Neji finally replied.

She laughed at his disbelief.

"Then why are you training taijutsu with us?" Lee questioned incredulously.

"Because my inherent abilities do me very little good in combat or even when it comes just to defending myself," she replied. "Well, and Kakashi-sensei said I had a certain natural aptitude for it," she added offhandedly.

"I don't believe you," Neji told her frankly.

"Oh? I assure you that if I was going to lie, I would have come up with something a little less embarrassing," she half-teased. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to start trying to seduce either of you," she laughed incredulously at the notion. "I'm telling you because you kept asking Guy-sensei about it and he wasn't sure if he could answer your questions."

"So Sasuke was right," Neji mused darkly.

"And what did he say about me?" her tone matching his.

"He called you a succubus. I thought it was just to bother Naruto and Sakura."

She glared at the somber young man but it only lasted a brief second then she let herself laugh at him once again, much to his displeasure. "With those eyes of his, he's way more of a succubus than I could ever be," she joked.

"Does he ever copy your jutsu?" Lee suddenly asked.

She gave him a look he couldn't quite identify before replying, "He would never do something he considered so base," she bitterly lied.

Neji nodded. "I don't blame him," he haughtily added.

"Indeed. Why charm someone when you can annihilate them?" she condescendingly countered.

"So _nearly_ anyone?" Lee pressed, curiously though still cautious due to his self-consciousness.

"So it would seem," she shrugged.

"What are your limitations?" he continued with a subject that was near and dear to him.

Neji didn't say anything because he was curious for her answer.

"I'm still figuring that out," she told him.

"I'll give you one," Neji interjected at her insufficient answer, "Me," he boasted flatly.

She gave him an even look. "Why's that? Don't you like girls?" she gave him a little wink.

He sneered at her and nearly growled. "What did you say?"

She laughed at him again, this time because of how intensely he reacted to her taunt. "Don't worry. I know you like girls, not that it matters in the grand scheme of things," she shrugged.

"Have you charmed anyone in this village?" Neji shifted because he didn't like the way she said she knew.

"Oh, now, I don't think I could tell you that. It'd be like kissing and telling and no one likes that," she replied with a slight blush.

"Only if you kissed'em," Lee pointed out almost playfully.

She gave him a mischievous look. "I have," she admitted, "But I'd rather not say who."

"I bet Sasuke was one of'em," Neji surmised astutely.

She shook her head at how observant that young man tended to be. "Actually, when Team 7 was escorting me here they didn't have an adult with them as they should have while I wasn't in control of my chakra. Sasuke, because of his sexual orientation and maturity, took the brunt of my unbridled energy and handled it better than just about anyone."

"Handled it better? What's that supposed to mean?" Neji scoffed.

"It means that even though he accidentally saw me naked he didn't make a move on me," she lied and reveled in their mutual blushing. "Even though he obviously got a kick outta what he saw," she boasted offhandedly and it actually worked to lighten the mood. "Anything else?" she asked genuinely.

"Yeah, I got one more," Neji spoke up. "Why'd they stick you with Kakashi-sensei? All things considered, it doesn't seem like a choice that would be made randomly."

"'Cause he was the volunteer that proved he could handle me the best," she replied simply.

"'Cause he's a pervert," Neji accused.

"That probably had something to do with it too," she joked with him and they all laughed a little at that.

That pretty much concluded their discussion and they left shortly after, as she walked them to the door she took the opportunity to say, "You took that better than I was expecting. Thank you for being so understanding."

"Whatever. Everybody in this village is…unique so there probably isn't a better place for you anyway," Neji rolled his eyes but his words made her smile and he felt the slightest tingle of warmth within him. Fortunately, he didn't think anything of it and let it go.

"Since you were so nice to me, I'll let you in on a little something. It's not important. It's just amusing. Do you know Kiba-kun?" she asked.

"Yeah, we graduated the same year," Lee answered readily.

"His dog loves me. You wanna see something really funny, get me within range of that dog's senses and that's just what you'll get," she nearly bragged.

"Why's that?" Neji cautiously questioned.

"It's something you'd have to see. I couldn't put it to words properly," she dodged and they left shortly after.

* * *

Neji took it upon himself to make sure they had lunch where Kiba's team was eating the following afternoon.

The diner wasn't crowded but there was enough commotion that no one seemed to take any special notice of her. However, as the host showed them to their table, they passed Team 8's.

"Hey," Lee pointed, "Isn't that-" but he was cut off by Neji shushing him.

Unfortunately for Kiba, he wasn't facing them as they approached, leaving Akamaru to notice her first, leaping off his owner's head and straight toward he cleavage. Again, she gave a girlish squeal, mostly due to his cold nose, and tried to cradle the creature in her arms.

"Aka-" Kiba began to scold as he turned to see where his dog was going only to stop half way out of sheer terror. "Not again," he grumbled.

This, of course, drew the attention of the rest of Team Kurenai, who couldn't believe their eyes.

"Oh, my goodness!" she fretted, pulling the pup from between her breasts and readjusting herself which caused a variety of reactions from those now staring at the scene. All the young men, Neji, Lee, Kiba, and Shino nearly fell over from sudden blood loss. Tenten and Guy only suffered a brief trickle which was quickly covered before anyone saw while Kurenai and Hinata stared almost stupidly at the spectacle. "Kiba-san, what a surprise," she greeted the young dog owner with a warm smile.

"H-Hi," he managed in spite of his embarrassment.

"Kiba-kun, you haven't introduced us to your friend," Kurenai prompted.

"Good afternoon. I'm Calixta," she greeted for him.

"Good afternoon," the female instructor greeted. She already knew who the young woman was but thought it would ease the tension if she asked. "I'm sorry about that. Akamaru usually doesn't behave that way."

"It's quite alright," she dismissed. "He's so cute, I can't be angry," she fawned over the small dog.

"Good afternoon," Guy greeted. "Mind if we join you?"

"Of course, we only just arrived ourselves," she replied and they made space for the extra chairs.

"So, Calixta, I thought you were with Team 7," Kurenai began.

"Yes, that's true but Guy-sensei was nice enough to let me train with his team while Team 7 is on their mission."

She nodded in approval and things were much less tense from there until a rather large beetle that had crawled up the back of her chair and then her hair to the top of her head. Hinata was the first to notice but she didn't want to frighten the older girl so she nudged her teammate and motioned.

"Um, Calixta-san…" Shino carefully began. "I don't want to alarm you but it appears one of my insects-" he stopped suddenly when she looked up as it started to step off her bandana.

She made a silly face trying to see the thing she could now feel starting to walk on her face. "Oh! Goodness!" she playfully fretted, completely undeterred by the insect. "Look at you!" she held her hand up and it walked into her palm.

Her company gave her looks of varying degrees of shock at the fact that she didn't shriek and swat the thing.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize he climbed out of my pocket," Shino apologized, unnerved by that fact.

"Oh, it's quite alright," she dismissed, focusing her gaze on the beetle that took up the majority of her palm. "You are very handsome," she told it, lightly petting its antenna until it started to move again. This time, it crawled up her arm until it rested rather contently on her right collarbone.

"I-I can take-um," Shino asked, fearful that his insect would take a similar route that his teammate's dog had.

"If you'd rather, I'd understand but really, he's not bothering me," she shrugged so they let it go, allowing her to eat with Kiba's dog on her lap and Shino's beetle on her collarbone and she didn't seem to mind.

Shino didn't say anything but he was impressed that she knew the sex of the beetle that randomly decided to crawl on her.

When they parted ways, she returned the reluctant creatures to their masters.

"That was interesting," Guy said when they were out of earshot.

"You charmed them, didn't you?" Neji accused.

"Of course not!" she scoffed. "Animals just like me," she dismissed. "Besides, your nose bled just as much as either of theirs," she pointed out.

"That was unnecessary," Guy scolded her for the taunt.

"They were the ones who wanted to see what would happen," she shrugged.

Kakashi had failed to mention to Guy the young woman's effect on members of the animal kingdom but apparently she had mentioned it to his students. "I see." He made a mental note to avoid Kurenai's team while he was training Calixta.

* * *

A few days later but before Kakashi returned, Calixta was sitting in the park one late afternoon reading one of the few books in Kakashi's house without pictures. It was a peaceful, warm afternoon and she was caught up in her text so much that she didn't notice the little white dog barreling toward her from behind until he leapt over her head and attempted to dive down her shirt. This time, she caught him about an inch from success.

"Akamaru," she playfully scolded, "You really shouldn't do these things to Kiba-san." Then, she looked around to see the young man in question running up to them, his face red with hurry and embarrassment. "Ah, there he is."

"I'm really sorry…again," he managed, this time it was easier because she wasn't wrestling with his dog inside her clothes.

"Kiba-san, it's not your fault, really…or Akamaru's for that matter," she patted the dog gently, allowing him to rest his head on her chest.

"He needs to learn to mind his manners," he attempted to coax his dog back from her to no avail.

"Walk with me?" she offered, tucking her book into her purse.

He reluctantly complied with her because his canine wasn't complying with him.

"Animals just like me," she began.

"I'd say he more than likes you," Kiba grumbled.

"Oh, don't blame Akamaru. After all, doesn't he react to your whims?" she dismissed.

Kiba blushed and looked away, "I would never-" he tried to cover but she cut him off.

"Of course not," she laughed. "Don't be silly." She led him wherever she pleased and he didn't seem to care where they were going, only that his pet and friend was seemingly stuck on her. "It's only natural that your animal companion would react to the instincts of a virile young man like yourself."

He blushed a little, "Uh, thanks?"

"Please, don't be so embarrassed," she requested.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I wish he didn't do that," he grumbled

"Here," she stopped for a moment to set Akamaru on Kiba's head and he seemed content to stay there for the time being. "Is that better?"

"Much," he agreed.

"Ah, here we are," she sighed when they approached Kakashi's house. "Would you like to come in for some tea? Perhaps a snack?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he barely agreed, though he wasn't sure it was the best idea.

Once they were seated and sipping, she broached the subject, "Did your sensei happen to say anything about me after we met that day at lunch?"

Kiba blushed again, "Yeah, she told us what you can do."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I've had to explain to so many times that it was getting a little tired."

"So she wasn't exaggerating?"

"Well, I don't know what she told you, but she doesn't seem like the type to exaggerate. Though, you don't have to worry."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I wasn't worried about that." He thought she would be at least a little offended by that but she seemed even more relieved.

"I'm happy to hear that…because, well, frankly, I find you very cute and I'd hate for you to think I have ulterior motives when I flirt with you," she winked.

Her wink sent a shiver through him but he thought it was purely his own reaction to her. "Oh," he blushed even more intensely as he studied his tea.

She made a small sound of disappointment, "Oh, don't be so shy," she scooted over and kissed him on the forehead.

He gasped at her kiss.

"I just love these markings," she traced her index finger over the top and outer side of the red mark on his right cheek. "They're very handsome."

"I get'em from my mom," he managed.

"She must be a lovely woman," Calixta mused.

"If you say so," he grumbled. He was absolutely torn between fleeing for his life and glomping her.

She sensed his anxiety and backed off, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I-It's okay. I'm just not used to girls being this forward," he replied through a slight stammer.

"Perhaps your trouble then is that I am more of a woman than a girl these days," she playfully sighed.

That made him blush even harder, if that was possible. "Yeah, okay…"

She gave him a strange, incredulous look that he barely caught before she taking action. She cupped his cheeks in her hands and leaned forward, kissing him firm on the lips. After a brief moment of panic, he practically melted in to the affection. Then, once he had relaxed some, she pushed his face downward into her breasts.

He gave a wild squeal as his arms flailed madly. She squished his face there for a moment before letting him escape.

"Oh, goodness," she remarked when she saw the blood on her chest.

His eyes were like saucers as he sat panting next to her. "Wh-Wh-Why did you do that?!?" he demanded fitfully, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"I thought you'd like it," she impishly replied.

He didn't know what to say to that so she kissed him again, this time knocking him over. "Aaagh!" he managed after a moment and pushed her away, much to the dismay of both Calixta and Akamaru, who gave a couple barks of protest. "Stop attacking me!"

"Ooh," she pouted. "Come on, let go. Live a little," she coaxed.

He couldn't believe his ears. "You can't be serious!"

"I know better than to kid about things like this," she told him in a husky voice.

"You-You're serious?" he questioned incredulously.

"Naturally." She giggled at him in a way that made his inhibitions slip even further, almost completely. "So…you want another taste?" she teasingly hooked her finger in her shirt and started to pull it away, exposing even more of her breasts.

He nodded almost stupidly in spite of his better sense and when she started to come near him again, he didn't resist. Before he realized what was happening, her shirt was down off her shoulders and her breasts were completely exposed to him, allowing him to do as he pleased. Every little sound she made urged him on in groping, sucking, and squishing.

"Ooh, Aaah!" she gasped and moaned at his attentions, glad that she had allowed him his pleasure. Then, when she reached down to his erection as it pressed against her thigh to fondle it through his pants, it was his turn to gasp. "Oh, so eager," she marveled.

He didn't like that observation but her hand felt so good on his hardness that he couldn't argue, only push against her hand.

His urgency made her bolder, "Take me right here," she whispered into his ear.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing and withdrew slightly to look into her eyes to make sure she wasn't making fun of him.

"Please," she gasped when she saw the unsure look in his eyes.

He gave another vague nod and received a smile in response as they finished undressing each other. Then, he laid her on the tea table and gasped at the way she spread her legs and guided him toward her glistening wetness.

He trembled as he entered her and then couldn't stop himself from diving into her breasts once again. She gave a heated squeal at his sudden forcefulness and wrapped her legs around him for further encouragement.

"Ooooh, so strong…so deep," she marveled as her head rolled from side to side.

Her encouragements made his inhibitions completely disappear, along with all other rational thought. until he came hard inside her a few minutes later, not realizing that he'd bitten her on the shoulder, leaving a rather distinct bite mark in the process. After that, he nearly collapsed on top of her, letting his head rest on her breasts without thinking.

She gave an affectionate chuckle and petted his hair, only then noticing that Akamaru had at some point left his owner's head to fall asleep in the corner.

He withdrew from her a moment later, after catching his breath. "Ah, haha, thanks…" he managed nervously. Then he gasped, "Oh, shit," when he noticed the bleeding mark on her shoulder, where he had buried his face when he came.

"Don't thank me, please. I enjoyed that just as much as you did," she giggled foolishly as they cleaned up a bit and redressed. "And as for this," she blotted the slight drips of blood before they could run down her skin, "No worries. I heal quickly."

That was when Kiba noticed his pet wasn't attached to either of them anymore, "Akamaru," he laughed quietly and affectionately at the sleeping pup. "Well, at least he's not jumping on you anymore."

She laughed as well and filled their tea cups again. "We'll see how long that lasts."

He left a short while later feeling very relaxed and refreshed. "That was amazing," he managed instead of a thank you.

"I'm glad you agree," she replied, patting the dog on the head. "Perhaps we could see each other again sometime," she winked and the dog perked up almost as much as the young man.

"Y-Yeah…that'd be nice…" he managed before leaving.

* * *

To her surprise, she had a second visitor that day. This one came just as she was sitting down to her solitary dinner. After spending all morning with Team Guy before they were pulled away for more pressing matters, she was pleasured with a peaceful afternoon in the park and a chance to lose herself in lovely fiction. Then, as if that wasn't good enough, she got to see Kiba and his dog again.

Akamaru was the first animal that she had charmed once but then stopped after that. Usually, the animals she had to subdue were hostile and required continued effort but since he was only part of Kakashi's experiments, she let it go after that and didn't think to continue her efforts when she saw him again. However, that didn't seem to matter. The creature was so loyal that he now flew to her like a magnet, knowing that his first love, Kiba, would be close behind.

Then there was Kiba, the handsome young man with messy hair and intriguing facial markings. He would have been attracted to her anyway but the fact that his animal companion was so drawn to her turned it into a full-blown crush. She didn't need her special chakra to determine that either, she could tell just by being with him. The way he reacted to her was too adorable to be anything else.

As she reached for her chopsticks, there was a knock on the door. She was surprised to see Guy standing on the porch.

"Good evening, Guy-sensei," she gave a polite bow. "Would you like to come in?" she motioned.

"Thank you," he stepped inside and upon entering smelled her meal and then saw it on the table. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. I can come back later if you'd like," he offered.

She shrugged. "If I'd known you were coming, I'd've made enough for two but as it is, as long as you don't think it's rude for me to eat in front of you, I'd rather you not have to leave and come back," she half-teased.

He nodded and took the seat across from her. She was taking her dinner at the tea table, as she often did when she ate alone, and poured him a cup out of courtesy before starting to eat.

"Listen, Calixta, I want you to know that I've been very impressed with you in the last few days. You've made great strides," he began with a compliment.

She gave him an odd look because it sounded like there was a 'but' coming after something like that, "Thank you. That means a lot to me," she went back to her meal.

"I just stopped by to make sure that you were…doing okay here by yourself," he managed.

"If I wasn't, you'd already know," she dismissed. "Not only is it that obvious, you're extremely observant."

"Thank you," he nodded. "Kakashi mentioned to me that sometimes when he leaves, he asks you to-" he paused for a moment because he couldn't think of the right word.

"Take a sabbatical," she finished for him with a knowing smirk.

"Um, yes. He didn't say anything about that when he asked me to train you but I was wondering if this was one of those times?" he carefully asked.

"Why, Guy-sensei," she began in a sexy little voice, "It sounds like you're coming onto me," she giggled.

He brought his fist down on the table hard enough to shake her bowl and she started visibly at the gesture.

"A little joke. I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to be comfortable enough with you to make a joke."

"Very little," he dismissed.

"Very well then," she nodded. "This is not one of those times."

He nodded again. "Then I assume you've made your own arrangements for his absence then?"

"Well, I had been planning to go to the baths tonight to see if I could catch Jiraiya peeping but I happened upon someone else this afternoon who did just as well," she answered.

"Good," he told her curtly.

"Would you like to know who?" she asked carefully, making a sideways glance at the spot on the table where they had coupled.

"No," he finished his tea in one gulp and stood. "Have a good evening. I'm sorry I intruded."

"Guy-sensei," she called after him, not bothering to look because she heard his footsteps stop. "I am truly sorry if I offended you," she told him in a small voice.

He could feel how honest she was being and he eased a little. "Hey," he called back in a stern voice, "No apologies, right?"

She started again but this time not as much. "Of course…and hey, that one day…I didn't want to charm you or even try to…"

"Then why?" he asked but only because she had brought it up. Otherwise, he was happier pretending it didn't happen.

"I did it for Kakashi-sensei. He finds me so difficult that…that when I can do something he asks, I have to at least try…"

"He tells me that you try very hard. You shouldn't worry about being difficult," he dismissed.

"He told you that?" she nearly gasped.

"Good night, Calixta. See you tomorrow," Guy left.

She felt a little guilty for behaving the way she did but there was a large part of her that wanted to see if she could make him angry, and what he would do if he did get angry with her. As it was, he simply reestablished his firm boundaries and kept his distance from her, almost completely shutting himself off from her.


	7. Healthy Expression

Okay, so, to anyone reading this, i wanted to warn you that this is the chapter where things take a bizarre turn. i hope it's not too strange for most since i don't think i've read a story on with this sort of content. please let me know what you think.

* * *

A week or so after Team 7 returned, Calixta went on a Saturday afternoon date with Ebisu. Things were going smashingly well as they shared a cup of shaved ice next to the large fountain in the market square. She had just gotten done telling him how much she liked the fact that her abilities didn't deter him and he was joking about how he felt charmed by her no matter what her chakra was doing when someone shouted at them.

"Calixta, watch out!" Kiba shouted as he ran toward them but it was too late. Akamaru was already flying at them and the couple was knocked into the fountain.

They screamed and splashed, gathering their bearings, while the young man approached.

"AKAMARU! I'm gunna kick your ass!" Kiba shouted and the dog emerged from the water, head drooped and whining.

"What the hell was that?" Ebisu emerged, soaked, from the fountain. "I thought you had that dog under control!"

"Ebisu, please, don't be angry," Calixta pleaded, emerging as well and receiving several gawking stares and nose bleeds that she didn't care to pay attention to.

"I'm really sorry. I thought he was over that," Kiba managed, looking at his feet so as not to stare at her. However, that didn't work as well as it should have because once she stepped out of the water, she went over and gave him a forgiving kiss on the forehead which gave him more than a good view of her breasts as her thin blouse stuck to her skin. It caused his nose to blush again.

"Oh, dear!" she fretted, pulling a handkerchief from her purse, as that was still dry, and handing it to the young man. "It's okay, really. Don't worry."

Ebisu couldn't believe how she handled the young dog lover. He wasn't sure if he should be jealous or impressed. Apparently, this sort of thing had happened before and she had learned to take it in stride.

The couple took their leave of the young man a minute later so they could change into dry clothes. "So, should I be jealous of little Kiba-kun?" Ebisu teased.

She laughed and gave him a little shove. "Why should you be? You got to see me fall into the fountain too," she teased back.

"But I didn't get a kiss for it," he shot back playfully.

"He has a crush on me, that's all," she dismissed.

"Should you be encouraging him like that?" he carefully continued to tease.

"Oh, it's okay. It wouldn't do him any good to be harsh to him," she replied surely.

"I suppose if he can learn to handle a crush on you, he'll be able to handle just about anything."

They both laughed at that and when they made it to Kakashi's house and no one was there, they took the opportunity to be intimate before she redressed. However, they didn't get away scot free because just as she was showing Ebisu out, Kakashi returned.

"Ah, good afternoon," the silver-haired man greeted knowingly.

They greeted him back, her confidently, him less so.

"I heard you caused quite a commotion at the fountain this afternoon," he teased. Actually, he had been there observing them at the time and got quite a kick out of what he saw.

The couple gave an embarrassed laugh and Ebisu left shortly after.

"So, Akamaru is still quite charmed with you," Kakashi began.

"So it seems."

"Fascinating. You're not still-" he tried.

"No," she interrupted, "not since that night we went for ice cream, but that seems to have been enough. Actually, I believe that Kiba has a bit of a crush on me and that's why his pup still reacts to me as he does," she explained.

Kakashi nodded. "Is that why you brought him back here while I was away?"

"How'd you know?" she wasn't at all startled that he knew what she was doing while he was away. Rather, she was wondering if someone had been watching them or if there was another tell.

"The dog hair on the carpet," he motioned.

She laughed, "Of course."

"So…did you?" Kakashi prompted curiously.

She smirked. "Don't you already know?"

"I'm observant, not psychic," he answered.

Her smirk grew and she walked away.

"Hey, don't just walk away!" he disappointedly called after her.

She winked over her shoulder, "If you really care, just go snooping again." Then she disappeared into her room.

* * *

A couple days later, she happened upon Kiba and Akamaru playing in the park. The dog once again ran straight for her but this time she was ready and caught him before he could get too far.

"Good afternoon, Kiba-san," she kissed his forehead and it seemed to settle the canine.

"Hey, what's up?" he greeted much easier than his previous meetings with her.

"Oh, I was just on a stroll and saw you two playing and had to stop by and say hi," she smiled, letting Akamaru lick her face a little.

He gave a friendly laugh, "Hi! Oh, and sorry again for Akamaru knocking you into the fountain."

"Oh, it's alright, really. The weather was warm enough that it was almost kinda nice," she dismissed.

"So…is he your boyfriend?" he asked carefully.

"Well, we were on a date but I don't really have a steady boyfriend," she told him carefully. "I'm not really suited for monogamy."

"Does he know that we-uh," he blushed and trailed off.

"It didn't come up," she giggled. "Would you like me to tell him?" she teased.

Kiba stammered, "Uh, well, uh, no, not exactly…I just didn't wanna…well…"

She laughed a little. "It's okay and don't worry, even if he did know, I think he'd be smart enough not to care."

He nodded vaguely, still unsure.

"Are you okay?" she carefully asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess," he shrugged.

"You sure?" she pressed.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's just a little weird, that's all," he admitted.

That made her smile return, "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one!"

They parted ways shortly after, both feeling much better about their situation.

* * *

Things went smoothly for about a month after that until something unusual happened one evening while Kakashi and Calixta were being intimate. He had been playing with her breasts more and more recently, as she seemed to enjoy that but that evening, the sound she made when he first cupped her left breast was different from the ones she usually made. This sound was higher pitched and tenser than usual.

"You okay?" he prompted. Normally, he wouldn't have worried but he had noticed that her breasts had been more sensitive than usual for her by the way she would flinch when they bumped against something and how they looked a little swollen.

"Ugh, yeah, they're just…sensitive lately, that's all. It still feels good," she urged and he accepted that.

However, when shortly after he started suckling one of her nipples, the reason for her discomfort was revealed. He received a small spurt of warm, sweet fluid in his mouth. He withdrew with a look of amusement and surprise and withdrew his cock from inside her.

"Ah, don't stop now!" she scolded, trying to re-impale herself on him to no avail.

"Just a moment," he dismissed distractedly.

"What is it?" she fretted.

"I think I know why your breasts have been so sensitive lately," he gave the one he'd been working on a little squeeze and was squirted in the face with some of her milk.

"Ah! What? How?"

"Well, I'm not the only one who's been playing with your breasts. The stimulation very well could have caused such a reaction even though you're not fertile," he explained and then went back to what they were doing, much to her pleasure.

When they were finished, she was still leaking but he was very satisfied, not only did he receive sexual release but he had a full belly now. Then, as she panted next to him he noticed something odd.

"My wound," he looked at his arm, where he had suffered a rather nasty gash on their last mission.

"What about it? Do you need it dressed again?" she offered.

"Oh, no. Actually, look. It's almost healed now," he marveled.

"How?" The last time she looked at it, it was still raw and painful.

"I think it was you," he suggested impishly.

"I didn't do anything," she defended. "I swear!"

"Of course not. I meant your milk. I think it healed me," he elaborated.

"Wha-?" she blinked in disbelief. "No, that's ridiculous!"

"Not at all. It makes perfect sense," he told her as he stood and put some pants on. "I'll be back in just a moment."

As promised, he returned a minute later with a large bowl.

"What's that for?" she sat up and eyed him carefully.

"You're not empty yet. I'm gunna finish the job," he informed, setting the bowl in front of her before moving behind her to grasp her still rather swollen breasts.

She made all manner of strange sounds as he milked her which almost excited him enough for another round but not quite. He was too interested in contemplating the possibilities for the fluid for that.

"So much!" he marveled when he was sure she was empty.

She blushed and couldn't look at him.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't think you should play with my breasts any more. In fact, I don't think anyone should," she bitterly replied.

"Oh, now, don't be like that. Actually, the fact that you produce healing without even thinking about it is pretty amazing," he told her.

She didn't seem to buy it.

"Well, your choices are to stop, like you said, but that would be very painful while your milk cakes. On the other hand, you could nurture this new part of you and heal countless people."

"I'm not letting countless people suck on my tits," she bitterly retorted.

"Of course not," he laughed. "That's why we'll express it like this. That way no one has to know where it comes from if that's what you'd prefer."

That would be better, as far as she was concerned, but didn't say whether or not she agreed. Rather, she went to bed after that and let him pour the milk to a bottle and put it in the refrigerator. This bottle he took with him to the village healers to have analyzed. Upon receiving the analysis, he returned home to find her still debating what to do.

Her breasts hurt so very badly but the idea of having to regularly express her milk was still disturbing. "As if I wasn't enough of a weirdo," she sighed to herself just before he came back.

"I just got back from the healers. They were very impressed with your milk. Just from what was left over from last night, they were able to heal three different people almost completely, looked like they were in pretty bad shape too."

She appeared intrigued by that but not enough to make her smile.

"They were hoping you could provide them with more," he added and she sighed.

"Yeah, okay," she reluctantly agreed.

"Really?" he sounded more than a little surprised that it didn't take more coaxing than that.

"Well, if I can actually help people, it would be wrong not to…" she muttered. "And my tits ache so bad," she complained.

Her complaint made him smile a little. "Wanna let me see if I can help you with that?" he offered lewdly.

Of course, she let him and he did the same as the night before. He drank until he was full and collected the rest.

"Depending on what you decide is most convenient for you, the healers have offered to help you in any way they can," he told her.

"I'll go see them tomorrow," she agreed.

* * *

For quite some time after Kakashi's discovery, no one knew about Calixta's new ability. They simply enjoyed the new healing potions and didn't question them because they worked so well. This ended on the first mission with Team 7 that Kakashi took her on.

It was supposed to be an easy recon mission but of course, it didn't stay that way. There were inevitably spies keeping watch on them and when they got too close they were attacked.

Calixta stayed back with Sakura and allowed the others to take the brunt of the attacks. That is, until Naruto was struck hard enough to send him flying limply into a large tree hard enough to shake loose some of the weaker leaves. The attack that facilitated this devastating retaliation made it easy for Sasuke and Kakashi to finish off the final foe while the blonde slumped unconscious beneath the tree.

Upon seeing the blonde fall Calixta panicked. She had never seen Naruto knocked out before and it caused her deep concern. "Naruto!" she shrieked and ran over to him.

He was still breathing but didn't respond to her moving him so, without thinking, she pulled out one of her breasts and put her nipple to his lips. "Come on, Naruto," she pleaded quietly while brushing her nipple against his lips.

Instinctively and without regaining consciousness, he eventually latched on and started to gently suckle from her. She gave a soft moan at the sensation of his unwitting attention and feeling him being healed by her.

Before he was awake, the others had joined them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke demanded, looking over her shoulder.

"She's healing him," Kakashi answered for her, as her attention was still focused solely on the young man now lying in her lap.

The dark-haired teen shot his teacher an incredulous look until his teammate started to regain consciousness.

"Wh-…" he blinked, still not realizing his situation, "What happened?" he sat up and rubbed his head, only then noticing her bear breast. "Ack! What are you doing?"

"Get back here," she grabbed him, "You're not better yet," she told him authoritatively.

Of course he fought her, not realizing what she meant.

During this exchange, Kakashi turned to his other two students, "Go scout the surrounding area. I don't want any more surprises."

They readily agreed and disappeared in opposite directions.

"Now, Naruto, let Calixta finish healing you," Kakashi instructed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto looked up at him with disbelief.

She took that moment of shock to grasp him and pull his face to her breast again. "That guy nearly broke your neck and who knows what else," she scolded.

The young man's face grew bright red and he tried to fight her but her grip was too good.

"Please, Naruto, let me heal you in the only way I can," she requested in a soft, almost hurt voice.

The hurt in her voice cause a pang to resonate within him and he gave in. It only took another few minutes before he was completely healed and so he was finished before the others returned. However, he couldn't make eye contact with her anymore without blushing.

"That…That tastes…" he began but couldn't continue.

"What's it taste like?" she asked curiously as she had not tasted it herself.

"Well, kinda like the new healing potions at the clinic but they serve those cold so it's not quite the same," he managed.

"Well, it has to be refrigerated or it'll sour," she answered simply.

"What? That-That-?" he stammered accusingly.

"Yes, they're from me," she confirmed carefully.

"They never said anything about breast milk!" he protested.

"Does it matter if it works that well?" Kakashi reasoned. "Don't be such a baby," he ironically teased just in time for the others to return.

"Done with your little snacky?" Sasuke taunted upon returning.

"Watch it," Calixta snapped almost threateningly. "You never know when you'll need to be healed in a pinch," she warned.

"I wouldn't do that no matter how damaged I was," he retorted.

"Yes you would," Kakashi corrected with the same authoritative tone he'd taken with the blonde earlier.

Sasuke scoffed.

"Even if I have to hold your face to her tit myself," he added darkly and the dark-haired teen kept quiet, no matter how much Calixta's slight snicker bothered him.

The rest of their mission was uneventful, so much so that they didn't return with any real information.

* * *

Upon their return, Kakashi made his team swear that they wouldn't tell others about what they knew about the new ultra-powerful healing potions. They agreed if only because they didn't really want to have that conversation with anyone.

She continued after that with a regimen of going to the healers first thing in the morning, even before breakfast, to have her milk expressed. This was because that was when the most fluid had accumulated allowing her to give them the most that she could in a single sitting. This allowed her the option of either returning later in the day for the same procedure or taking care of it in other ways. Before long, this resulted in a schedule that had her expressing her breasts three times a day. Once before breakfast, once in the afternoon, and then again the late evening.

This schedule allowed her to maintain her secret reasonably well. Though, slowly there were those that came to know. The first, of course, was Jiraiya, who greatly enjoyed her new ability even if it did quell his intoxication when he happened upon her after a good drinking session.

The next to find out was Ebisu. They were on another date when it happened and it was completely by accident. On their way back from their lunch, a precariously stacked merchant cart toppled over. He managed to get her out of the way but not without one of the crates hitting him in the head hard enough to knock him down and make him bleed.

At the sight of his blood, she gave a sharp gasp and cradled her heavy breasts. It was nearly time for her to express her milk anyway but his injury had triggered her let-down reflex.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he saw how flushed she was.

"Y-Yeah…you're bleeding…are you okay?" she managed.

"Just a little knick," he dismissed, dabbing the blood on his sleeve.

She looked around nervously. "Can we get out of here?" she hastily requested.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed, a note of worry in his voice. He was also concerned by her posture. Before the accident, she was walking closely with him, arm in arm in fact. Now she was walking with her arms carefully crossed over her chest. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again when they were away from the crowd.

She looked around to see if there were still people around. There were and she hesitated. "I'm okay…just…can we stop off at your place?" she asked.

He usually liked it when she wanted to go back to his place. This time, it didn't sound as exciting. "Of course," he led her the couple blocks to his house and when she entered, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, goodness," she sighed. "I thought everyone would see," she fretted.

"It's not that big a deal. Here, I'll go clean up," he told her, thinking she was still worried about his minor injury.

"No, not just yet. Let me fix it for you," she requested meekly.

"Sure, okay. I'll get the first aid kit," he offered.

"No," she told him resolutely, finally letting her arms fall to her sides to reveal that she had nearly soaked through the front of her blouse.

"Wh-?" he blinked in surprise.

"Please," she pulled her shirt open, exposing her swollen, leaking breasts.

Ebisu's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"It will heal you," she encouraged.

"I-I don't understand," he stammered though he felt drawn to her.

"It started some time ago," she tried to explain. "Oh, please, they're so heavy it aches," she whined.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he barely managed and she led him over to his couch where they sat and he carefully nursed her breasts.

As soon as his lips touched her, she breathed a soft sigh of relief, which caused the flood of milk to come even more easily. A couple minutes later, she was far from empty but his wound was gone.

"See," she traced a careful finger over where the bloody wound had been.

He withdrew to examine for himself, "Amazing," he marveled. The he gave her a pensive look. "Should I stop then?" he wondered since she was still dripping.

"Only if you want to," she sheepishly replied.

He didn't answer, simply went back to what he had been doing until he was full and she was all but empty.

"When did this happen?" he finally asked as they cleaned up since he knew it had to be a recent development.

"Not long ago, less than a month," she blushed. "Apparently my breasts have received enough attention that this started. I never thought I'd have to deal with this kind of thing…since it usually only happens when you have kids, ya know?"

"I was kinda wondering," he breathed a slight sigh of relief. She had told him the first time they coupled that she couldn't get pregnant and he was beginning to wonder if that wasn't true.

"Bizarre, huh?" she managed.

He shrugged. "A little but hey, whatever, right?"

She smiled gently and hugged him. "You're so understanding. Why couldn't I have met you sooner in my life?"

He simply hugged her back because he didn't have an answer for that. In the back of his mind, he thought that if they had met before she came to their village, they might not have hit it off so well.

* * *

Because she was worried about how Akamaru would react to her, she avoided Kiba for quite some time after she started lactating. If she thought that he might even be in the same area as her, she avoided it at all costs. At first, Kiba didn't notice but as time passed, he began to wonder if he had said or done something to earn her disfavor.

However, she knew this couldn't last forever and while on a stroll through the forest not far from Kakashi's house, she happened upon the pair on a walk of their own. Naturally, Akamaru caught her scent first and started after her. Kiba knew what his companion was after shortly after when he caught a whiff of her scent as well. It made him run faster, almost fast enough to catch Akamaru, but not quite. Though, he was quick enough to get her attention before she was glomped by the dog again.

"Calixta!" he called as he approached.

She turned and was again just in time to catch the pup. This time, however, that wasn't enough. Akamaru kept trying, wriggling in her grasp and trying to burrow in her shirt. The struggle knocked her off her feet. Of course, Kiba scolded his dog but to even less avail than usual.

"I'm so sorry!" he apologized as usual, thankful that they were alone in the forest rather than in a crowded place like usual. "I thought he was pretty much over that."

She gave a heated gasp as the canine didn't simply try to burry himself between her breasts as he usually did. Instead, he was trying to get to a particular part of her breasts, her nipples. "Aaah," she gasped again when she finally managed to pull him away but the damage had been done, her milk had started to let down.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he saw that she wasn't recovering as well as she usually did.

She blushed deeply. "H-He was rooting," she barely managed.

"He was what?" Kiba questioned, not understanding what she meant.

"Rooting," she repeated quietly as she slowly made her way to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," he managed.

She gave him a critical look, not as though she didn't believe him but she was wondering how he would take the news. "Is there…something different about my scent?" she asked carefully. She was already starting to leak a little and knew that if he couldn't smell it before it would be apparent now, if it was at all.

He took a moment to sniff the air. "Yeah…I guess there is," he agreed, hoping she would get to the point.

"What's the difference?" she asked hopefully.

He took another moment before answering. The answer to her question came to mind immediately but he wasn't sure about it and it made him hesitate. "You smell…milky?" he barely answered.

She smirked a bit. "Bingo," was her simple reply.

Her affirmation confused him. "I don't get it," he admitted.

He obviously didn't have any younger siblings. With a blush, she pulled her shirt away from one of her breasts, trying not to revel in his shock, and cupped it in one hand. Then, just as he was about to say something, she gave it a squeeze, squirting milk out and letting it fall freely to the ground.

With that, Akamaru leapt from his master's arms to the ground where he lapped at the fluid before any more of the tiny drops could seep into the dirt.

"Oh…" was all the teen could manage.

She giggled a little at his stupor. "I've been avoiding you because I knew Akamaru would be drawn to it. I've embarrassed you enough as it is. You don't deserve any more than that."

"I-It's alright. I didn't realize," he eventually replied.

She gave a nod of understanding before looking down to see that she was starting to soak through the side of her shirt still covering her other breast. Without really thinking, she pulled that fabric away as well. "And well, once it's started…it's rather difficult to stop," she explained.

"Is…Is there…anything I can do?" he asked, unsure what exactly that meant but he felt responsible.

She smirked. "Well…there is one thing." She knelt down on the ground and pulled out a small plastic bowl with a lid. It had contained the snack she had eaten early on her walk but was now empty.

He stared, gaping at her as she filled the bowl and set it aside for Akamaru. "There, that should keep him out of the way," she said resolutely before turning her attention to the young man staring at her. "As for you. If you really want to help…you'll have to help me get the rest of the milk out."

"H-How-?" he stammered.

She gave a gentle smile that made butterflies rise up in his stomach and motioned for him to join her on the ground. "It's easiest if you orally express it," she eased.

He obviously was unsure about what that meant and flinched when she placed a careful hand on the back of his neck, guiding him toward her breast.

"Suck it out yourself," she told him simply just as his lips met her breast.

Without further thought, he opened his mouth and began to suckle.

"That's right," she eased, "Take as much as you can into your mouth and use gentle, even pressure."

He obeyed and her right breast was empty a few minutes later. When he wasn't getting any more fluid, he withdrew, noticing that the breast he'd been working on was now significantly smaller than the other. Before Akamaru could make another go at her, she refilled his bowl and set Kiba back to work to finish his task.

"Ooooh," she gave a satisfied little moan, "Thank you…They were getting so heavy."

He didn't know how to answer that and simply kept going until that breast was empty as well.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he withdrew and covered herself again. "Thanks," she blushed.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," he managed.

She gave him a careful look and noticed that their interactions had stirred the arousal of her young companion. So, she slowly wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a passionate kiss. This time, he didn't flinch or fight her in anyway, simply yielded to her embrace. Soon, he was making advances of his own, pushing back until she was lying on the forest floor.

She made a soft sound of surprise when her back met the ground but couldn't break the kiss because of how intriguing it was to taste her milk on his lips.

They had sex right then and there without any forethought. He almost thanked her again but caught himself in time, instead saying, "That was…amazing…"

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Indeed," she giggled.

When he went to gather up Akamaru, he found that the pup was in a food coma from having consumed every last drop of the milk she provided him. He gave an affectionate smile as he tucked the little dog into his coat and it didn't wane as they made their way out of the forest.

Kakashi was more surprised when she returned after dark and even more so when he saw that she was arm in arm with Kiba.

"Good evening," he greeted slyly.

"Oh, uh, good evening, Kakashi-sensei," Kiba blushingly greeted.

Calixta practically ignored this exchange in favor of continuing to focus her attention on her young companion. "That was fun. We should walk together more often," she kissed him on the cheek and he left a moment later.

"Sounds like you had an interesting stroll through the forest," Kakashi began as they entered the house.

"I wasn't expecting to but it sure turned out that way," she giggled a little.

"He seems very fond of you and I'm surprised you weren't carrying Akamaru. I've heard the pup practically demands it," he chided.

"He was passed out," she answered. "Oh, you already started dinner!" she marveled, noticing that it spelled quite appetizing.

"Yes, well I wasn't sure if you were coming back," he shrugged. "So you met up with them after some pretty intense training then?"

"He said they were just out for a walk," she answered, unaware that was their euphemism for training in the woods. "And a belly full of warm milk will do that to anyone," she half-joked.

"Oh? I thought you looked a little empty," he teased.

She blushed a little in spite of herself. "Well, once Akamaru started rooting things just started flowing and Kiba was willing to help me out so I wouldn't soak through my blouse on the way back to you. Are you disappointed?" she teased back.

"Only a little. I've started to look forward to the late night snack," he admitted.

"Well, I'm sure there will be some for you later if you really want it," she assured.

That much he knew was true. Her body had started to produce milk at a state of near-constancy, which meant he could have a snack just about any time he wanted.


	8. Abduction

before this installment, i'd like to give a special thanks to my good friend Chris (esrarin on deviantart) who has helped me beta edit this story and has given me a lot of input!

* * *

Once Calixta got used to her new healing capacity, she finally started to feel at home in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She had made real friends and had a few romantic interests. She was even comfortable enough to wear her leaf crest as part of her everyday attire, alternating between the blue one Kakashi gave her and the red one given to her by Guy. Kakashi was even considering putting in a request for her to be given her own home to live in. However, fate has a way of messing with good things.

* * *

Temari and Kankuro raced toward the Leaf Village.

"You sure this is gunna work?" Kankuro asked, almost out of breath.

"I'm not sure of anything when it comes to Gaara and that damn demon inside him," she sighed, "but this is our best bet."

They reached the village a day later.

"They're not just gunna let'er come with us, you know," Kankuro reminded.

"I'm not stupid," she spat. "We have to observe her until she's alone, then take our chance."

"We don't have time for that!" he fitfully replied.

"What we don't have time for is arguing," she retorted forcefully.

Seeing no other alternative that would take less time, Kankuro conceded.

Unfortunately, it took several days for them to find her alone. Apparently, she spent almost every moment, waking or otherwise, in the company of others.

"Certainly a socialite, wouldn't you say?" Kankuro disdainfully joked.

Temari gave a frustrated grumble. "Socialite? She's a fuckin' whore." It was obvious that she was beginning to doubt their ability to kidnap Calixta.

Kankuro gave a crude chuckle in response because they had observed her socializing intimately with at least three different individuals. "Don't whores get paid?" he joked rudely.

"A slut, whatever, like it matters," she dismissed.

They decided to give their current strategy another couple days before resorting to more drastic measures, since her closest associates appeared to be some of the higher ranking ninja of the leaf. They lucked out two days later when Calixta went for one of her solitary strolls through the forest. When she first started taking these strolls, it made Kakashi nervous but only until he realized that the forest contained enough animal life to keep her from total solitude.

She was wandering around, looking at different kinds of flowers by one of the smaller streams when an incredible gust of wind knocked her into the water. As she splashed and sputtered, trying to gather her bearings, she was scooped up and carried away as quickly as Kankuro could carry her.

They were in such a hurry that it took several kilometers before he realized that he could practically see through the attractive young woman's clothes because of how wet they were. This realization only got worse when she managed to catch her breath and start to fight him.

"Put me down!" she demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"

He didn't reply, simply tried to focus his attention on maintaining his grip on her and his speed.

Seeing that diplomacy wasn't an option, Calixta did something she never thought she'd do. She let up on the tight rein on her chakra and focused it on him. She even went as far as to wiggle, but not fight, in his grasp while giving heated little sighs at his strength.

Kankuro felt his head starting to get foggy and the urge to hold her tightly against his body started to well up in him.

When she felt his grip grow tighter without becoming much stronger, she pushed even harder with her chakra and started to try to hold him back. "Oh, when you carry me like this, it feels like you're going to drop me," she fretted, grasping at what few parts of him she could reach.

He was obviously surprised by her change in demeanor but lacked the foresight to question it. Instead he shifted to cradling her in his arms instead of simply around the waist by one arm. "Better?" he asked carefully.

"Much," she answered, bringing her face closer to his.

"Since you don't seem to want to put me down, why don't you tell me where you're taking me?" she asked in a breathy voice.

"The Village Hidden in the Sand," he replied simply.

"I'm not really dressed for a desert climate," she half-teased, squishing her wet bosom against his chest.

He nearly went cross-eyed trying not to look down her shirt. "I-I'm sure…I'm sure we'll find something for you," he stammered.

"Your cloak looks very protective," she held him close, "Perhaps you could lend it to me?" she proposed.

"Uh, yeah, sure…" he blushed.

His stammering gave her confidence and she pushed even harder with her energy. This time it was enough to make him stop moving.

"What's the matter?" she asked in a sweetly concerned voice. "Perhaps I'm a little heavy for you to be carrying at such a great speed."

He gave her an odd look and blinked stupidly a couple times before setting her on her feet.

"Are you okay?" she continued her queries.

"I…I feel strange," he told her.

It didn't take long for Temari to realize that her teammate wasn't keeping pace with her anymore and turned back to find him.

"Shhh…" Calixta put a careful finger to the sand ninja's lips. "Let's go this way," she whispered and started to slowly walk back in the direction of the Leaf Village. She had to turn her face away from him for a brief moment to hide the victorious smile she couldn't contain.

They didn't make it very far before Temari caught back up with them. "What the hell?" she demanded, landing direction front of the pair.

Calixta gave an exaggerated sound of shock and scurried to hide behind Kankuro.

"Temari?" the young man gave her an odd look, as though he was surprised to see her there.

"I thought you said you had her!" she demanded.

Calixta couldn't help snickering a bit at that.

"This is your fault!" Temari accused.

"Perhaps you should learn more about someone before you attempt to abduct them," she advised, wrapping a careful arm around the still dazed young man.

His daze didn't last much longer because he received a solid right cross that knocked him off his feet. As he rubbed the bruise, he came to his senses. "What happened?"

Temari gave a sound of disgust. "You were going the wrong way, you idiot!" she scolded before turning back to the young woman. "What'd you do to him?"

Calixta didn't answer. Instead, she focused her attention on trying to get a read on the other girl only to find that the combination of her heterosexuality and something else would prevent her from being charmed.

"Answer me!" Temari yelled, frightening away some of the birds perched nearby.

"Why don't you tell me what this is all about?" Calixta countered.

After a moment of contemplation, Temari answered. "We need you," she answered simply.

Calixta scoffed. "For what?"

"To help a friend," she reluctantly divulged.

"Well, here's a little advice," she started walking back toward the Leaf Village again, "If you want someone's help, its best not to kidnap them."

Temari was quick to stop her. "You're coming with us," she asserted.

Calixta rolled her eyes. "What gives you the idea I could help anybody?"

"We know you're a healer," the younger woman added.

"Apparently that's all you know," she scoffed again.

"Please," Konkuro pleaded, "We don't know of any other way to help him."

His 'please' caused Calixta to pause. There was such genuine concern in his voice that she couldn't ignore it. "Who?"

"Gaara, our teammate," he replied.

She had heard that name before and not spoken of in the best of terms. "From what I've heard, he's beyond help or at least you'll need more than a healer like me to help him."

"I don't care what you've heard," Temari told her, "and we've tried everything else."

Calixta still appeared displeased. "Then why not just ask me to come with you? If you knew even the littlest thing about me, you would know I don't mind helping people."

"We didn't think your village would let you go with us," Konkuro replied.

"Why's that?" the older girl asked, now slightly concerned.

"It's complicated. If you come with us, I'll explain everything," Temari promised.

Calixta's eyes narrowed almost dangerously. "And if I refuse?"

"We'll continue to take you by force," she answered willfully.

"You realize it won't take them long to realize I'm gone," the older girl told them flatly.

"That's why we don't have time for crap like this! We wasted enough time waiting to find you alone!" Temari informed her, obviously irritated.

Calixta laughed at that because she knew that it would have required a significant amount of patience.

"This isn't funny!" Temari stomped her foot.

Then, with a sigh of resignation, Calixta agreed, "Fine. Take me wherever you want but don't be too disappointed when I can't do what you want me to."

"Good," the younger girl nodded and started once again only to find that she still wasn't being followed. "What's the hold up this time?"

"I can't move fast like you can," Calixta lied.

Temari rolled her eyes, "Fine. Hop on my back. I'll carry you," she ordered. She would have much rather let her companion do the heavy lifting but it was clear that wasn't her best option.

Calixta was obviously disappointed but knew better than to argue since she'd already started to tip her hand.

"So, what'd you do to Kankuro? I've never seen him look so stupid," she asked once they were moving again.

The older girl didn't answer.

"Tch, for someone as social as you, I thought you'd at least want to talk," Temari bitterly observed.

"How long were you watching me?" Calixta countered with her own question.

"Less than a week," she answered, hoping her compliance would foster similar responses in her abductee.

"I hardly spend any time alone because it's bad for me," she elaborated. "And when I do, it's almost a sacred time for me." Her tone was bitter, almost disdainful.

"I didn't realize, but I assure you, we're not doing this just for fun," she almost apologized.

"Yes, of course, abducting innocent healers is the best way to help your friend," Calixta scoffed. She had already determined that she would do what she could for Gaara but that didn't mean she was going to take it easy on her abductors.

"It was a last resort, I assure you."

"Naturally," Calixta rolled her eyes but it was lost since the young woman carrying her was watching where she was going.

They didn't talk much after that but around nightfall, Temari noticed the woman holding onto her back was flinching, almost whimpering with every step she took.

"What's the matter?" She tried to sound neutral, not condescending or concerned.

"Are we going to stop for the night?" she asked suddenly.

"Perhaps. Why?"

"I need…some time, an hour at the most," she tried.

"Don't tell me you need to rest," Temari scoffed, thinking the other girl was stalling.

"Not exactly. I promise, I won't be any longer than absolutely necessary. I know you're in a hurry and don't want to waste any time," she nearly pleaded because the pressure in her breasts was becoming unbearable.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed because she was starting to get hungry anyway.

"Thank you," she told the younger girl with a sincerity that made her stomach flutter.

They found a suitable camp spot less than an hour later and when Temari set Calixta down, she started to walk away. However, this time it wasn't in the exact opposite direction they'd been traveling.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Temari demanded.

"I need a few minutes alone. I promise I won't run away," she tried.

"Oh no you don't!" she scolded. "After all it took to get you this far, I'm not letting you run off by yourself."

Calixta rolled her eyes, remembering that she'd been in a slightly similar situation when Team 7 had brought her to the Leaf Village. "Fine," she sat down a few feet from them. "It was for your modesty anyway," she bitterly added before pulling her left breast from her blouse.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari demanded stepping between the older girl and her teammate so he couldn't see her indecency.

"I'm doing what you want, not wasting time. I'm taking care of the reason I wanted you to stop," she didn't falter in starting to manually express her breast milk onto the ground, since she had nothing to collect it in. "They were so full, it was starting to hurt."

Temari's eye twitched with embarrassed frustration. "I didn't know you had a child."

Calixta laughed a little. "I don't. You really didn't know what you were getting yourself into, did you?"

"We never saw you do this!" she attempted to defend.

"Well, it's not exactly something one does in public," she chidingly defended. "Besides, you were going to have to find out eventually. You did want me because I'm a healer," she reminded.

"What's that got to do with-?" the younger girl tried to defend but lost her words due to embarrassment.

She didn't directly answer her question. Instead, she turned her attention to Kankuro, "She hit you pretty hard earlier. Does it still hurt?"

He rubbed his jaw a little, "Yeah, it's still kinda sore," he admitted.

"If you partake of this," she gave an especially hard squeeze, lengthening the distance she could squirt her milk, "The damage will be gone."

It was obvious that he really wanted to but the threatening look his teammate was giving him fostered his reluctance, leaving him to just shift uncomfortably at the notion.

"You've got to be kidding!" Temari scoffed. "You just wanna make him stupid again."

Calixta laughed again. "That was in self defense," she assured. "This is where my healing comes from. If you don't like it, let me return to the village and I won't tell anyone about your endeavor," she offered.

The idea made her uncomfortable but Temari didn't waver. "No. You're not getting away that easily." Though, she was unsure if Gaara would be willing to 'partake of her' as was suggested.

A couple minutes later, Calixta was finished with her left breast so she tucked it away and started on the right.

"Is there anything else we should know?" the younger girl asked carefully.

Calixta smirked. "This is the only healing power I have."

"That's not what I asked."

"No, but that is my answer," she smartly replied.

"Why did I feel so strange earlier?" Kankuro finally interjected. "I didn't see you weave any signs."

"That's because I didn't. You were affected by the sheer force of my chakra," she told him simply.

"Your chakra?" he nearly awed.

"But that is something else entirely. You wanted me as a healer and that is all," she reminded them.

"Wait, if your chakra could affect him like that, then why not do it to me too?" Temari couldn't help asking.

"You ask entirely too many irrelevant questions," Calixta snapped because she didn't feel like explaining herself.

"I don't think it's irrelevant," the other girl snapped back.

Calixta cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "I doubt it would affect Gaara either, though I couldn't say without meeting him first, if that's what you're concerned about," she dismissed.

"And why is that?" Temari pressed.

"Let's say…it takes a certain amount of emotional receptiveness for things to work that way," she vaguely elaborated.

That wasn't as specific as they were hoping but it was enough.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask but did you want to save any of this?" Calixta asked when she was nearly finished.

Temari rolled her eyes again. "No thanks."

"Figured. Just so you know, he won't have to take it straight from the tap…though it does seem to help. Either way, why don't you tell me about what I'm supposed to be fixing. It might be helpful to know what you expect of me."

Temari was more than a little unnerved by how casually the young woman could hold a conversation while squeezing her breasts. She was also quite surprised to see her lose at least three cup sizes in the process. To distract herself from these thoughts, she elaborated on Gaara's personal history, finishing the story just as they were getting ready to take off again.

"I see. That's quite a story. Now how am I supposed to help such a mentally unstable individual? My healing his purely physical," she reminded.

"The way you keep saying that makes it sound like you don't want to help him," she snapped.

"Please, don't misunderstand me. I just don't want you to have expectations that I have no hope of fulfilling. You obviously have your reasons for what you're doing and I'd like for you to share them with me."

"It's the insomnia," Kankuro interjected, feeling more confident to speak now that she wasn't flashing them.

"But that can't be helped, right? You said that when he falls completely asleep, the demon has free reign," she verified.

"That's right but the lack of sleep takes more than a mental toll on him. He'd never willingly admit it to anyone but the physical strain is really starting to get to him," he elaborated.

Calixta gave a thoughtful nod. "Then perhaps I can help but you have to understand that whatever rejuvenation I can provide will be temporary. The healing effects don't last forever when up against a chronic issue like that," she warned.

That gave the pair hope. "At this point, we'll take what we can get," Temari sighed. "He's unaccustomed to being physically weakened. It makes him…irritable," she understated.

* * *

They arrived late the following afternoon in the Village Hidden in the Sand and were greeted by a somewhat frantic Baki.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" he demanded. He usually wasn't this frazzled but having to deal with Gaara almost completely by oneself could do that to just about anyone. "Who's this person?"

"This is Calixta. We brought her here to see if she could help Gaara. It just took longer than we thought it would," Temari reported.

Baki was obviously disgusted by their insubordination but because it was for a decent cause, he let it go for the time being. "What can she possibly do?" his demands continued as they entered the village.

"She's the super-healer from the Leaf," Kankuro reported.

"Super-healer?" Calixta repeated in a soft, incredulous voice that went unnoticed.

Baki gave her a critical look. "I'm sorry, I was expecting a more imposing presence," he nearly scoffed at her.

"I have a habit of not fulfilling people's expectations," she told him flatly. "But it is my hope that it will not be the case with your third student."

She was better spoken than he expected and gave a slightly respectful nod. "He's this way," he started toward a secluded section of the village.

"I am not prepared to see him immediately," Calixta informed. "And I don't think it will do any good to introduce us before I am ready."

"How long do you need?" Baki questioned authoritatively.

"An hour," she replied simply. "And I will need a few things."

"Whatever you want," he agreed and instead led them to a building near the disturbed sand ninja but not to him. "What do you need?" he asked when they entered the building.

Calixta thought for a moment. "Two large jugs, three or four if they're smaller," she began and blushed a little when Kankuro snickered at her choice of words. "Some parchment…and a writing utensil. Preferably a pencil, ink tends to run and bleed."

Baki didn't think anything of her requests and sent someone to retrieve her things. Then, he had Temari stay with her while she prepared, in case she needed anything else, and took Kankuro to check on their younger sibling.

"What's the pencil and paper for?" Temari couldn't help asking.

"They're for my own personal use. I figured that since you dragged me all this way, it was the least you could do. Now, unless you intend to help me express my milk, I'd like some time by myself," she curtly replied.

"Of course," she almost stammered. "I'll be in the front room if you need anything." She gave a half-bow before exiting, leaving the young woman to do as she pleased.

Because of the situation, Calixta elected not to drain her breasts between the time in the forest and their arrival. It was quite painful but she wanted to be able to provide as much as possible. She emerged an hour later, ceramic jugs filled with warm milk.

"Here. I can provide more later if necessary," she informed and then turned to go back into the room she'd been working in.

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Temari barely asked, startled by the young woman's resignation.

"I don't need to. Everything you need is there. Just make sure you refrigerate the leftovers or it'll sour and go to waste," she turned and practically closed the door in her face.

Temari was obviously displeased by that but tried to brush it off as she rejoined her team.

"Where's the Leaf-healer?" Baki questioned incredulously when he saw his female student return only with two full jugs.

"She said this is all we need."

"Do you believe her?" Bake continued questioning.

"I have no reason to doubt her," Temari admitted.

"That's good enough for me," he conceded. "So he just has to drink this stuff?"

"Apparently," the blonde girl shrugged.

"Well, here goes nothin'," he sighed.

It took some convincing, as anything did when Gaara was in one of his moods, but he got the boy to drink a glass of the warm milk and was surprised to observe some visible changes in him. It wasn't much, but he thought he could even see the darkness around his eyes fade a little.

"How do you feel?" he asked carefully.

"Better," he barely grumbled, not wanting to admit that he felt bad in the first place.

"Good. I'll leave another cup here and you can drink it when you're ready. When you want more, just let me know," Baki instructed.

"What is that stuff anyway?" Gaara barely asked before his sensei was gone.

"A healing potion from the Leaf," he replied, not knowing any better.

Gaara's frown deepened but he didn't say anything.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Kakashi awoke with a violent start the morning after Calixta went out for her walk in the forest. Seeing that she had not returned home that evening, he immediately went into town to search for her, growing increasingly disturbed that no one had seen her since the day before. He had hoped that he was over reacting, that she had found someone to spend the night with but that didn't appear to be the case.

"Master Jiraya!" Kakashi called when he saw the white-haired man exit one of the buildings on the main street.

"Ah, Kakashi! You look distressed. What seems to be the problem?" he jokingly asked.

"Have you seen Calixta?" he panted, trying to catch his breath.

The older man gave a lewd chuckle. "You know I've _seen_ her."

"Not like that you old perv! I mean since last night!" he fretted.

"No, I haven't. Why?" he suddenly grew serious.

"She didn't come home last night and I haven't seen or heard from her at all since she went on her walk yesterday," he explained.

"Are you sure you're not over reacting? Maybe she was out with Ebisu and spent the night with him," he proposed.

Kakashi shook his head. "No. I just talked to him and he hasn't seen her either."

"Well, if you're that worried I'll help you look for her," he offered.

Because of exchanges like this, Kakashi had practically half the village looking for the young woman. They lucked out later that day. One of the farmers on the outskirts of town had seen her to into the forest the previous afternoon but she never came back out. Now Kakashi was really worried, worried enough to ask Kurenai and her team to track her.

They returned a couple hours later with some disturbing news.

"You didn't find her," Kakashi grimly surmised when they returned without her.

"We lost her trail near the stream," Kurenai described the spot. "What really worries me is that Kiba and Akamaru picked up the scent of sand nearby."

"You think she was kidnapped by sand ninja?" he nearly gasped.

"That's how it appears," she answered solemnly.

"Okay, well, we need to get her back," he replied.

"Naturally," she nodded.

Kakashi gathered his team and Kurenai's and they set out that day in the direction of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

They lucked out not far from the stream when they caught a scent that was unquestionably hers, the place where she had expressed her milk.

"She was definitely here," Kiba reported as he watched in exasperation while his dog rolled in the spot.

"Good, let's keep going," Kakashi instructed.

"What do you think they want her for?" Kurenai questioned as they traveled.

"I haven't the faintest idea. For all we know, it could be a mercenary mission, someone paying them to take her," he answered.

* * *

After a day of receiving the powerful healing potions, Gaara finally left his room and was feeling better than he ever remembered feeling.

"You look great!" Baki nearly awed, but kept it in check because he knew how much that annoyed his student.

"You said you got those potions from the Leaf Village?" he questioned.

"Well, sort of. We brought the maker here," he answered.

"I see," he looked out the window.

"Would you like to meet her?" he ventured carefully.

"Why not," he shrugged.

He took his student a couple buildings over to where Calixta was staying. Unfortunately, due to how uncomfortable she was with the situation she'd been thrown into, the young woman had grown irritable and listless.

Temari answered the door. "She's still in back. I'll get her for you."

"What is it?" she snapped.

"It's Baki and Gaara, they want to see you," she answered carefully.

With a sigh Calixta exited. "Good day."

"Gaara, this is Calixta, the healer from the Leaf," Baki introduced. "Calixta, this is Gaara, the young man you're healing potions have been helping."

She looked him up and down, "Love," she muttered quietly before formulating a proper response. "Actually, they're not potions in the traditional sense but I suppose that's accurate enough."

"Then what have I been drinking?" Gaara demanded.

Calixta cocked an eye brow at him. "Milk," she answered simply, though a little amused that Temari and Kankuro had failed to elaborate on that.

She received incredulous looks from Gaara and Baki for that answer.

"What else did you do to it?" Gaara almost demanded.

Calixta smirked. "Do? I don't have to do anything to it."

"You just gave me warm milk?!" the young man turned to his sensei.

"I-It's not…It's not _just_ warm milk," Temari tried.

"Then what is it?" he nearly yelled.

Calixta pursed her lips. "I would like a few minutes alone with Gaara," she announced after a moment of thought.

Although they were reluctant to leave them alone together, Temari and Baki left to wait outside.

"So? What is it? What's the big secret?" he growled.

Since laying eyes on him, Calixta had started to assert some of her chakra on the volotile young ninja, hoping to soften his demeanor. It seemed to be working, if only a little.

She sighed and sat down. "I'm not sure if you'll like what I'm going to say, but I suppose it makes no difference. It's my breast milk," she answered evenly.

"Your what?" he shouted. "That's outrageous!"

"It is outrageous but nonetheless the truth," she continued flatly.

His eyes narrowed dangerously and she felt his chakra flair up. Then, without another word, he turned on heel and started to leave.

"Does this mean you're going to stop drinking it?" she asked genuinely.

He sneered at her and left without replying.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed when he exited and received a sneer as well.

"How'd it go?" Baki carefully inquired.

"Were you _trying_ to humiliate me? Or are you all just that stupid?" he yelled and stormed off.

Baki turned to his female student, "Do you know what that was about?"

"Baki-sensei…do you know how she makes those potions?" Temari questioned quietly.

"I never looked into it," he admitted.

"It…It's her breast milk," she informed in a hushed voice.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Baki nearly slapped her.

"I-I thought you knew," she lied.

He obviously didn't believe her but at this point it didn't do any good to argue about it. Knowing Gaara as well as he did, he figured the best thing would be to leave him alone for a while to see what he would do. Perhaps he would get over it, given enough time.

That evening, Calixta could tell her Leaf companions were drawing near. They would be taking her away soon and she felt the need to act before they arrived.

Just as it was growing dark, Calixta snuck out of her room and into Gaara's home. It wasn't customary for people his age to live alone but he was anything but a customary young man.

"Gaara-san," she called quietly into the darkness.

"What do _you_ want?" he hissed from the other room.

"I came to apologize. I knew you wouldn't be pleased but your teammates brought me here and they wouldn't take no for an answer," she began but didn't dare enter the room he was in.

"You didn't have to oblige them," he snapped.

"If it makes you feel better, most of the people in my village that enjoy the healing effects of my milk do not know where it comes from."

He scoffed, "So you're deceptive even with your own people?"

She laughed a little, which caught him off guard, "I suppose that's true. They only brought me because they care deeply for you."

"They brought you here because they fear what I would do," he corrected bitterly.

"That is perhaps true as well but you must believe that I meant no disrespect to you," she tried.

He scoffed at her again. "If you came here to make me feel better, you should just leave," he snapped.

"I try to make all those I encounter feel better but that is not why I came here. I came to tell you that people from my village are nearly here, come to take me back," she added offhandedly.

"So?"

"There is only one person in this village who could make me stay any longer than that."

"And who is that?" he bitterly humored her.

"You, of course. You are the reason I am here and you will be the reason I leave. I will only stay as long as you wish," she told him in a small voice.

"Then go! For god sake, just go!"

"Please, don't dismiss me so easily," she pleaded quietly.

He barely heard her, if not for the quiet of dusk, he wouldn't have. "Why would you _want_ to stay?"

"Because…" she didn't want to tell him but she felt compelled to, "Because I can feel your pain, your loneliness."

He stormed out of the room and harshly pushed her against the wall where she made a soft thumping sound. "I don't need your sympathy, or anyone else's for that matter!"

"I offer no sympathy…only companionship, if you'll have my company," she shakily replied. Even before she entered his home, she had been focusing her chakra on him but now that she could feel his filling the small room, it made her falter.

"Your very presence mocks me!" he told her, pushing her even harder against the wall.

She gave a heated gasp and felt her skin flush due to his proximity. Even though she was a few inches taller than him, she felt like a mouse in his presence. "If you wish to kill me, you should do so quickly, before you will receive interference," she told him, her voice quivering.

"Is that why you came here? To die?" he hissed, feeling the warmth of her body starting to infect him.

"I ceased wishing for death quite some time ago but if it is your desire to have me dead then I am not strong enough to stop you," she told him as evenly as she could. "If you hate me that much, then take your vengeance quickly but I'm sure you realize that I'm no threat to you."

His eyes narrowed dangerously but he faltered at the strength and conviction of her words. "As much as I'd like to, I can't seem to hate you," he growled, letting her go and stalking across the room.

She breathed a sigh of relief then, after a moment to take him in and reassert her chakra, she walked purposefully over to him and took him by the shoulders so she could plant a firm kiss on his lips.

Gaara's eyes grew wide with horror and he violently pushed her away, spitting away the faint traces of her taste from his lips. "You crazy bitch! What the hell was that?" he demanded, absolutely seething.

The turbulent rise in his emotions made her gasp again. "You feel so much. Don't hide from me," she requested breathily.

"I hide from _no one_!" he shouted at her but found himself closing the gap between them regardless.

"Then, please," she gasped, "take my milk once more before you send me away. It was made for you especially," she ventured.

He gave a defensive snarl.

"Take as much of me as you desire," she told him just above a whisper.

That caused him to give her the strangest look of all, one of disgust mixed with wanting and so many other emotions that he could do nothing but take hold of her again. "You're mad!" he shook her.

His reaction made her give a light little giggle that sent shivers throughout his body. No one had ever come on to him, let alone this strongly and that thought alone would have made his head spin but in this instance the feeling was compounded by a warm, pulsing rush that was flooding his senses.

"I am only mad to those who see you as a monster," she answered after a flush started to warm his cheeks. "Please, don't tell me you're one of those," she pleaded breathily.

At that he felt something snap in his brain and he pushed her against the wall again but this time with his whole body, holding her there as his lips met hers in a vicious kiss. She gasped against his lips, giving him the opening to thrust his tongue into her sweet mouth. He still expected her to fight him but rather she yielded to his every advance. It made him bold and he soon found his hands wandering all over her generous curves, and nearly awing at the little sighs and moans she would give him in response to his touches.

He broke the kiss as violently as he started it a few minutes later to catch his breath. "You're insane," he told her, though he sounded the most affectionate he ever had toward anyone.

She sent another giggling shiver through him, "I've been told that before…and I'm sure you've heard the same."

With that, he pulled her down to the floor on top of him where he opened her blouse to find her breasts already weeping for him. Without thinking he took one nipple in his mouth and started to suck. It was a harder pressure than she was used to but she knew better than to protest it. Though, when he became excited enough to use his teeth, she gave a pained squeal and tried to pull away from him.

He wouldn't let her. He was already too far gone and harshly squeezed her breasts, not caring that it spilled her milk not only on himself but his floor as well. His intense grip had her making further sounds of discomfort, "Please, not so harsh! My breasts are tender, especially when they are so full," she pleaded.

"I intend to empty them," he hissed before resuming his suction but this time he was a little gentler with her if only to regain her full compliance.

At the feeling of him easing, she breathed another sigh of relief and tucked one careful hand behind his head to cradle it. His hair was rough and wiry as her fingers laced through it, gently scratching the back of his head.

Her scent, her taste, indeed, her very presence, seemed to intoxicate him, even more so when her other hand reached down between his legs. He gave a heated gasp when her fingers found his semi-erection.

"Who are you that you dare to touch me in such a manner?" he asked in a voice that betrayed his growing arousal more than he would have liked. Because of this, he forcefully sat up, taking her wrists in his hands hand holding them to either side so she could no longer touch him.

"I am Calixta. I come from the north, a small village, mostly farmers and clergy-folk. I do not need to weave signs to channel my chakra. Its natural frequency resonates with the brainwaves of others and can evoke strong emotions in those it encounters. This frequency stabilized in my early teens but it is only recently that my healing milk has come in," she rambled.

He blinked stupidly at her explanation for a moment.

"I am a woman who wants to couple with you," she added when she sensed his confusion at the previous response.

That answer made him give an arrogant smirk and his hands moved from her wrists to her hips where he used them to grind their pelvises together. She gave another heated gasp and he resumed suckling her breasts, alternating between one and the other.

"Please," she pleaded after another couple of minutes of nearly writhing in his lap, "let me touch your skin."

The notion almost made him falter. At most, he only ever let others make contact with the sand armor he used in battle. The heat and genuine desire in her voice made him acquiesce and the protective layer of sand covering his skin slowly started to fall away. "Do as you please," he told her and found himself nearly naked moments later.

Her touches sent electric waves through his body, bringing him to full hardness before she started to open his pants. When she finally took hold of his length, he gasped with such abandon that he made himself blush, and was glad that no one else was within earshot. So that he wouldn't be alone in his exposure, he reached beneath her skirt and tore away her panties, causing her to give a similar gasp, though she seemed more aroused than embarrassed.

He felt his length pulse as the head brushed against her hot wetness, making him gasp again. He was only surprised by her eagerness because of his inexperience but he was nonetheless surprised.

"Aaah," she sighed at the feeling. He was hot and ready and she could feel the chakra of her comrades entering the sand village. "Take me now, please…" she breathed in his ear.

A moment later, she was impaled on his length and moaning loudly for him due to the combination of that and the fact that he was still suckling the remaining milk from her breasts.


	9. Moving Out

Her vocal appreciation would have been heard by others had not the ninja from the leaf arrived and started demanding answers.

"Where is she?" Naruto demanded upon entering the sand village, "Where's Calixta?"

Temari heard the shouting and ran up to them. "She's okay, don't worry," she tried to ease.

"He didn't ask if she was okay," Sasuke pointed out, "He asked where she is."

"Right, she's this way," she replied in a small voice as she led the rather large rescue party toward the house Calixta had been staying in.

"Wait," Kakashi stopped her. "Why did you take her in the first place?" Since she was apparently not planning on keeping her from them, he felt the need to ask before they saw her.

"It was for Gaara," she admitted. "The insomnia was started to take a physical toll on him. We heard about her incredible healing abilities and had to see if she could help."

"If it was a genuine concern like that, you should have just asked to take her," Kurenai pointed out coldly.

"We didn't think you'd let her come with us…because of what he is," she told them regretfully.

She was probably right but they wouldn't admit to that.

"Take us to her, now," Kakashi ordered and Temari complied until they came across Baki, who had just heard of their arrival.

"I suppose you're here for the healing woman," he half-grumbled, though he was at least a little glad at the thought of her leaving.

"That's right. Why did you send your students to kidnap her?" Kakashi scolded.

"I didn't send them. They took it upon themselves to take her from your village. Though, it was my impression that after she learned their purpose, she came willingly," he explained.

"Calixta is a unique individual with unique needs!" Kakashi nearly yelled. "You should have returned her as soon as she arrived. You have no idea what kind of damage you could have caused!"

"Damage? She's hardly left the quarters we've provided her," Baki dismissed coldly as he continued to lead them to her.

Kakashi grumbled and breathed a sigh of disgust. "Just take us to her, right now," he ordered.

Baki rolled his eyes and a minute later they were there, "This is it. She's inside."

Kakashi had the others wait outside while he went in. "Calixta?" he called into the dark little house but received no answer. Unnerved, but hoping she was just sleeping, rather than slightly catatonic as she had been when he left her alone for the first time, he continued to the back of the house. He only found a short stack of papers on the little desk to one side of the bedroom.

_Temari - dedicated, strong, cares deeply for her brothers, worries for Gaara more than she can safely admit, defensive, prudish but accepting, took responsibility for my abduction, assigned to watch over me during my stay_

_Kankuro - cleaver, cares deeply for his brother and sister, fears Gaara almost as much as he cares for him, easily influenced by my charka_

_Baki - cold, stern, distant but cares for his students, only wants me to stay because my milk revitalized Gaara, difficult to read_

_Gaara - lonely, so very tired, tense, appreciated my healing but was deeply disturbed when he learned where it came from, very angry, felt betrayed, he feels so very much but is incapable of expression for many reasons; I am deeply endeared by the "love" tattoo on his forehead though I don't know if I will remain that way if I find its reason; most intriguing hair color, the dark circles around his eyes fade when he drinks my milk; I can feel the weight of the souls he's slain hanging over him, if not for the strength of the demon inside him, he would not be able to bear the weight, though he might not have to without it; finds me offensive but I believe that is the result of surprise_

_I do not think he realizes that he beckons me. I WILL see him alone before my 'rescuers' arrive. _

There was one more paper beneath that one. This one was intricately folded and tied with a pretty sting. However, he was too caught up in what he had just read to notice it. Had he seen and chosen to unravel it, he would have gained the prize that he had been longing for, the paper with her feelings about him scrawled on it.

But Kakashi was too distraught by what he had just read to look that far. "Shit," he grumbled. "SHIT!" he shouted, storming out of the house.

"Where's Calixta?" Sakura asked carefully when she saw her sensei storm out.

"She's not in there!" Kakashi forcefully informed Baki.

"Temari," Baki turned to his student, "Do you know where she could have gone?"

Kakashi answered before she could, "She went to see Gaara," he grumbled.

The entire party grew horrified and without being asked, Baki led them the extra steps to Gaara's house. Though, once they arrived, he hesitated to enter. It was extremely rare that he entered Gaara's residence without invitation.

"Well?" Kakashi prompted but when he saw the other teacher's hesitance, he approached the door himself. He was surprised when his hand touched the knob, he too felt hesitation, almost as though he was being pushed away by an unseen force. After a moment, he recognized the force as Calixta's chakra. Reluctantly, he withdrew and took a few steps back.

"Kakashi, what is it?" Kurenai asked carefully.

"We…We should not enter…" he regretfully replied.

"After all that? You sure make a big show for nothing," Baki scoffed.

"You know nothing!" Kakashi snapped.

* * *

The pair inside could hear muffled voices through the door.

"They're here," Calixta whispered.

"Then we should finish quickly, before they interfere," Gaara nearly growled.

"Not necessary," she dismissed. "They will not disturb us."

"What makes you so sure? Your presence in this village is unapproved. Your companions rushed to your rescue," he reasoned even though his thrusts did not ease.

"My sensei is here…he may not understand completely but he knows better," she added.

Gaara snickered again but believed her because the voices retreated. "You are very loud," he noted with a tone of mild distain mixed with amusement.

"The outbursts you contain are channeled through me," she admitted. "Finish at your leisure. Do not rush for them nor stall for me," she encouraged breathily. Now that her breasts were empty, she was able to coax his face closer to her own so she could kiss him.

"And your leisure?" he haughtily countered.

"My leisure is yours," she answered in a deep voice.

He liked that answer enough to stop speaking until he spilled himself inside her with a forceful grunt, grinding their hips together as he came.

Her cry of ecstasy was doubled because he managed to stifle his and it was heard by those waiting anxiously outside.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "She's at it again. We shouldn't have bothered coming at all."

"Don't say stupid things," Kakashi dismissed authoritatively.

"You mean…Calixta…an-and Gaara?" Naruto barely muttered.

"You know what's going on in there?" Baki demanded.

Sasuke gave a condescending laugh but knew better than to say anything for fear of another, harsher scolding from his sensei.

"What's going on? What is she doing to him?" Baki continued to demand.

The six students present started to giggle foolishly.

Baki's eye twitched in irritation. Unfortunately for him, it was the uncovered eye. "Kakashi, explain!"

The copy ninja cleared his throat. "Right…" He asked Kurenai to stay there with the students while he had a private conversation with Gaara's instructor.

A few minutes later, Baki's face was red with embarrassment and rage. "This is unbelievable! And you want me to just leave her in there with him? I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Gaara is mentally unstable! What do you expect to happen if we leave them together?"

"I don't know but when I went to enter, I could tell she didn't want me to," Kakashi tried to calm the other man.

"Who cares what she wants? From the sounds of it, neither one of them is safe with the other! She's manipulative and he's destructive. If he realizes what she's doing, he'll probably kill her!" Baki insisted.

Kakashi tried not to laugh, "What makes you so sure she's manipulating him or even if she is, that he hasn't realized it?"

"You think he would just let her do that to him?" Baki scoffed.

"Well, from the sounds of things, they weren't fighting." This time Kakashi didn't bother to hide his crude laughter. "Come on, let's go back. Stewing isn't going to help anything."

"You _are_ taking her back! I don't care if she does heal him!" Baki stormed back to the house.

When Gaara and Calixta emerged a few minutes later, the dark circles around his eyes were nearly gone. They received varying looks of incredulity and it was obvious that Akamaru wanted to jump on her again but Gaara's imposing presence inhibited him.

"I am ready to leave," Calixta told them.

"Good riddance!" Baki scoffed.

She ignored him. "I only have a few things I'd like to take with me, if that is alright," she added.

"That's fine," Kakashi told her with a polite nod.

Then she turned to Baki, "Thank you for the opportunity to assist your team." Then she gave Gaara an odd look before speaking to him. "Accompany me?" she held out her arm.

To the shock of everyone, he took her arm and led her to her quarters.

It only took her a moment to pack up her papers and tuck them away in her purse. Before they left, she turned to Gaara again.

"If it pleases you, I would like to send you a care package every month or so," she told him in a quiet voice.

He nodded, "That would be acceptable." He almost smiled but not quite so, she smiled for him.

"That pleases me greatly," she told him. She greatly wanted to hug him but knew how it would embarrass him but he felt her urge welling up in him and that was enough. Then, she turned to Temari and the recently arrived Kankuro. "I realize events did not go as you had hoped but I think perhaps they were better. Thank you for the memories."

With that, the party from the Leaf left.

"Gaara, are you okay?" Baki managed to ask.

"Quite good," he replied before walking away, not bothering to revel in the looks of incredulity he received for possibly the warmest response he'd ever given them.

* * *

Once they were a safe distance from the village, Kakashi approached Calixta. "How are you?"

"I am well," she told him with a small smile. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"It was not your choice," he pointed out.

"That is true. If I had the opportunity to tell you, I would have. I left as best a trail as I could," she told him.

"That you did. Akamaru and Kiba were easily able to pick up your scent by the milk you left behind," Kakashi told her.

"Though, once I was told of the situation and I could sense their insistence, I felt…compelled to continue with them without a fight," she admitted. "I hope that doesn't displease you."

"All things considered, it could have been worse. We were all very worried about you but I'm glad it was largely unwarranted," he sighed.

"When we return, I could assemble a full report, if you like," she offered.

"You are expected to provide such a document after an event like this. Though, you might want to leave out some of the more…intimate details," he managed.

"Of course. I will try to exercise some of the discretion you've taught me," she impishly replied.

A few minutes later, when Calixta was distracted with chatting with the students, Kurenai approached Kakashi, "Did I just hear you tell her not to give a _detailed_ report?" she carefully questioned.

"She has an incredible memory. I asked her once to tell me about one of her encounters…and let's just say it was detailed enough to make even me blush," he admitted. "For the sake of Gaara's modesty as well as those who will be reading her report, it's probably better that she leaves certain things out."

That made Kurenai laugh. "Okay, okay."

That evening they made camp and after spending nearly an hour alone off with Kakashi, Calixta stayed up late sitting around the fire with the other students.

"So…" Naruto finally had the courage to broach the subject, "Did you and Gaara really…?" he trailed off, embarrassed.

"Really what?" she wanted to make him say it.

"Fuck'em. Did you fuck'em?" Sasuke rudely answered.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped.

"If it were in my nature, I would slap you for such crude language," Calixta told the dark-haired teen in a stern voice before turning back to Naruto. "Gaara and I spent some intimate time together, yes. But that's all I will say on that because I'm sure that's more than he'd prefer I admit to."

"I'm sure and you've slapped me before so I know it's _in your nature_," Sasuke scoffed. "Does he know how much of a slut you are?"

The look he received for that almost made his heart stop. It did make his next breath catch in his throat and he was caught completely off guard when Kiba retaliated for her by punching him in the side of the head hard enough to knock him over.

"What the hell?" Sasuke demanded.

"Watch your mouth!" Kiba scolded.

"Kiba-san, please," she stopped him from further action, "I appreciate your willingness to defend my honor but Sasuke-kun is merely revealing his own limitations by the way he speaks."

"How dare you!" Sasuke stood and stormed off.

"W-Wasn't it scary?" Hinata asked quietly after a few seconds of silence.

"Scary? How so?" Calixta questioned.

"Gaara's a pretty creepy guy," Naruto added. "How'd you deal with'im?"

"He's human just like the rest of us," she shrugged. "And I pose no threat to him. He even told me that he wanted to hate me but couldn't bring himself to," she told them seriously.

"Really?" Shino questioned, obviously surprised, "I thought he hated just about everybody."

She gave a sad little laugh at that. "It would seem that way…but only because he shuts himself off so completely. I don't care to influence how you feel about him. It's not fair for me to do that, but if you can find it in you not to hate him…I think it would help him."

She received some strange looks for that but no one argued. A short while later, she excused herself for bed but not without talking to Kiba for a short moment.

"Would you mind if Akamaru sleeps with me tonight…I could really use the comfort," she asked him in private.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'm sure he'd sneak over to you anyway," he laughed. His pup had already spent most of the evening asleep in her lap.

"Thank you," she kissed him gently on the forehead and went to bed.

* * *

Their return to the Leaf Village was uneventful and Calixta was debriefed by the elders. When she returned to Kakashi's she had two lower ranking ninja with her.

"Who are your companions?" Kakashi bitterly joked.

Calixta gave a sad little smile. "I have been given my own home."

"I see," he nodded.

"They're here to gather my things," she told him.

"I see," he nodded again and showed them inside.

"I sense your discomfort. What's the matter?" she asked him once they were alone.

"I wasn't expecting this so soon," he admitted. Even though he had been considering the request himself, out of respect for her progress, he hadn't filed one yet and even if he had, he expected it to take at least a week to process.

"As long as it is convenient for you, I would still like to be your student," she told him hopefully.

"I would still be willing to be your sensei," he agreed.

She hugged him warmly. "Thank you," she nearly whispered. "You've been so good to me. I feel like I owe you the world," she told him.

"You don't owe me anything," he answered surely. Actually, he felt that he had gained as much from their time together as she did. When the three accompanying her were finished loading their things into a large cart, she stood with a sigh. "I will be spending most of the day settling in but I was wondering if I could come back here for dinner. I don't have any kitchen supplies yet?" she gave a shy smile.

"I would be delighted. What should I make?" he offered.

Her smile widened. "Would you mind if I cooked for you one last time?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded. "As you wish," he conceded.

She hugged him again and left and for the first time since he had been living in his own home, Kakashi felt lonely.

* * *

She returned, as promised, later that day and happily set to work making their meal.

"I'm going to miss this," Kakashi admitted as he poured them some sake.

"As will I," she sighed, "but since we enjoy it so much, perhaps we shouldn't stop. I know your students would miss our semi-regular dinners as well."

He gave a sad smile, "That they would."

She looked at him, slightly perplexed. "But that disappoints you…why?"

"Since when are you a mind reader?" he laughed.

"You know I've always been able to sense the emotions of others. Because of all the time we spent together, you are easier for me to read than others."

"You used to tell me that I was very difficult to read," he told her.

"That is still the case much of the time…but you have opened up to me as time passed, sometimes more than others."

"You're saying that I've let my guard down around you," he surmised.

"And I said it was only sometimes," she corrected.

"And that right now is one of those times," he added.

She gave him a warm smile. "I suppose it is. Does that bother you?" she asked genuinely.

"What do you think?" he asked with equal genuineness because he wanted to see if she could sense that feeling as well.

She studied him for a brief moment. "I don't think so now but if you had asked me that a couple months ago, I think it would have."

"I think you're right," he agreed.

"You're birthday's coming up, isn't it?" she asked suddenly.

"What's it to you?" Actually, he was endeared that she knew.

"I love cake," she grinned mischievously, "any excuse for it really, but there should be a reason and birthdays are the perfect reason."

"Two weeks," he affirmed, "Thursday," he added offhandedly.

"What flavor do you like?"

"You're not going to throw a party or anything, are you? I hate stuff like that," he told her seriously.

She believed him. "A small cake? Perhaps even just two cupcakes?" she proposed.

That made him smirk. "Orange."

"What?" she blinked with confusion.

"I like orange cake," he elaborated.

"Orange it is then. I've always rather liked that color anyway and orange blossoms are so pretty."

He just shook his head with a mixture of awe and exasperation. As they sat down to eat he broached something that had been on his mind. "There was something I wanted to confess," he began carefully.

"Oh? What's that?" she asked, worried by the sincerity in his voice.

"When we were at the Village Hidden in the Sand, they first took us to where you were staying but, well obviously, you weren't there. I saw the notes on the desk and I was so worried about finding you that I couldn't help reading them, hoping for a clue as to where to find you."

"Is that all?" she asked impishly. "How much did you read? There really wasn't much there," she almost giggled.

"Just what was there, what you wrote about Baki and his team," he answered simply.

She smiled knowingly at him. "No worries. I figured that since they weren't stacked properly that someone had gone through them. I'm glad it was you and no one else and I'm sorry if my words worried you," she apologized genuinely.

"What worried me was the idea of you and Gaara alone together," he admitted.

She nodded, "I understand…but in the future, don't waste your worry on that," she advised.

"I don't intend to," he assured her. "I trust your judgment," he added and felt a slight warmth well up inside him. Had he been the first one to tell her that, he would have been privileged with a much more intense reaction.

They parted with a sweet kiss a few minutes later.

* * *

It was strange for Calixta to live alone after so long of living in the company of others. Her new home seemed too big and foreign to really call a home, though, she knew that feeling would pass with time. Even with all that, she was excited to be living on her own and was looking forward to growing as a person because of it.

However, her first night alone was not without at least one visitor. Just as she was sitting down with a cup of tea and a good book, she heard a shuffling on her steps just for a rather boisterous knock on her door. Setting down her book, she answered the door to find Jiraiya grinning down at her.

"Good evening," she smiled up at him.

"I heard they gave ya your own place," he poked his head in.

"Would you like to come inside?" she asked, slightly amused by his forwardness and the scent of alcohol on him.

He nodded and stumbled inside.

"I was hoping to wait to have company until things were a little more put together," she admitted.

"Aw, I don't care about stuff like that," he dismissed, slumping down on her couch.

"Of course not," she agreed.

"You drinkin' tea this late?" he half-joked.

She nodded. "Would you like a cup?"

"Naw," he dismissed. "Just wanted to stop by and give you a house warming present," he pulled out a medium-size bottle of sake.

She grinned knowingly at him. "Thank you," she gave a slight nod and took the bottle only to set it on the table. Then, she went to get two saucers so they could drink together.

They cuddled, joked, and messed around on her couch for most of the rest of the evening but when she grew tired, she decided it was time for him to leave.

"It was very nice of you to visit, but I really should be getting to bed. I have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Aw," he complained, "You don't wanna spend the night in this big house all by your lonesome, do you?" he tried.

She gave a warm smile. "Sure I do. It's my first night alone," she reasoned.

He frowned playfully at her.

"Any other night, you are welcome to stay. Call this evening….an exception," she continued.

Finding that he actually admired her fortitude more than he was put off by being kicked out, he acquiesced. "I understand," he nodded.

"Thank you," she beamed, glad that it didn't take more than that to let him see where she was coming from.

"Though, if you do want company, you know how to find me," he added mischievously.

"I wouldn't hesitate," she assured and he beamed back at her as she showed him the door.

* * *

A couple days later, Calixta walked out her door one morning and tripped over a package. "Huh? What's this?" she looked over the brown paper package as she rubbed her bruised elbow.

There was a little note tucked under the string wrapped around the package saying, "Happy house warming!" in pretty handwriting.

It wasn't signed, leaving her to guess as to who left it behind as she unwrapped it to find two dozen cookies. She took the package inside and took a couple for the road, munching on one as she made her way to the clinic for her regular morning appointment.

She left the clinic feeling giddy and practically skipped through the streets. Though, when she realized her enthusiasm was drawing quite a bit of attention, she decided it was best to reel it in a bit and settled for just a spring in her step.

On her way back home to put the last few of her things in place, she happened upon Ebisu.

"You look pretty happy today," he greeted with a smile.

She hugged him and took his arm while they walked. "It just feels like a good day. I feel like a new person."

"I heard you got set up with your own place. How ya likin' it?"

"It was a little weird the first night or so but I think I'm liking it," she smiled. "Would you like to see it?"

"I'm on my way back to the academy right now but if I could stop by later?" he asked hopefully.

"That'd be great!" she agreed because it would give her time to finish putting things away.

She walked him back to the academy and noticed that more students than usual were paying attention to her but she shrugged it off. Ebisu, who was usually more in tune with these things than she was, didn't notice either. In fact, he was too busy staring at her to notice much of anything. It weirded her out so much that she left the school with hardly a good bye and without confirming their plans for later, which was probably a good thing because Ebisu was starting to consider blowing off the rest of that day's duties in favor of spending the rest of his time with her.

As Calixta hurried home, she happened upon Azuma.

"Hey, Calixta, what's the hurry?" He had never seen her look so anxious.

She appeared startled by his concern. "Um, I-er…I-I don't know," she managed.

His worry grew. "Is there something the matter?"

"I'm not sure." She eyed him carefully as he took a drag on his cigarette. "Do you…um…Do you sense something strange?" she vaguely asked.

He looked her over. "Other than your apparent distress, no. I sense nothing," he shrugged.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why do you ask?"

She appeared thoughtful for a moment. "I had a strange morning, that's all. Probably just adjusting to living alone, that's all," she dismissed.

He nodded with understanding. "I see. How's that working out for you anyway?"

"Takes a little getting used to, but I think it's working out," she forced a smile.

He sensed the force behind her smile but let it go.

"Can I bum a smoke?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah, sure. Helps with the stress sometimes," he added offhandedly as he pulled out a cigarette to light it and hand it to her. "I didn't know you smoked," he commented when she didn't cough after the first drag.

"I haven't since I came here but I used to," she told him regretfully.

He gave her an odd look, thinking that reverting to old habits like that might indicate a deeper problem. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it was a great way to kill the time I spent alone," she added as they sat down on one of the benches outside the park.

"You really that stressed about living by yourself?" he pressed.

"I didn't think it would take such a toll on me," she admitted. Their conversation was starting to really get to her.

"Well, it has been quite some time since you've lived alone, hasn't it? And I've heard that you don't deal with solitude very well," he carefully added.

She frowned. "Yeah…apparently I need to be around others…"

He could feel her near-despair and wrapped his arm around her. "It's okay. We're a social species, you're just more social that most," he reasoned.

His affection warmed her heart and she rested her head on his shoulder as she finished her cigarette. "Thank you for the comfort," she shyly smiled upward.

Her smile made his heart flutter and without thinking, he lifted her chin and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Unfortunately, his timing was very poor.

"Azuma?" Kurenai gasped when she saw their embrace.

"Ah, Kurenai," the man greeted with a smile. "Good afternoon!"

Calixta shifted uncomfortably when he didn't withdraw his arm. She felt the other woman's disappointment and irritation.

"I guess you forgot about our lunch date," Kurenai sighed.

"Oh, yeah," he scratched the back of his head, "Haha, sorry, guess I did."

Kurenai scowled at them.

"I-I have to go," Calixta suddenly stood and backed away from Azuma. "Thanks for the smoke," she hastily told him. "Good day," she gave a slight bow and hurried away even more disturbed than when she happened upon him.

When she reached her home, she ran inside and slammed the door. Her mind raced for quite some time until she could calm herself down enough to think straight, which wasn't until evening.

Still feeling anxious, she put on a large cloak and headed to Kakashi's house. She took the most isolated route she could think of and managed to avoid encountering anyone along the way.

Kakashi started at the sudden urgent rapping on his door. "Calixta, what a pleasant surprise. Do come in," he motioned.

"Thank you," she told him as she removed her cloak and hung it near the door.

"You appear a bit frazzled. Is there something the matter?" he pressed.

She looked pensive for a moment. "I'm not sure…I think….I think I might be regressing," she woefully told him.

"Regressing how?"

"I think I'm losing control of my chakra again. I don't think moving out on my own was a good idea," she elaborated.

"Settle down," he eased, pouring her some tea. "Now, what gives you that idea?"

She recounted her day to him.

"Ah, I see. Well, if you want my opinion-" he began.

"Yes, please, that's why I'm here. You're the only one I trust with these things," she interrupted.

He gave an affectionate little chuckle. "Well, my opinion is that you're over reacting. It may be that your control has started to slip a bit but that's likely due to your living alone after so long. A certain period of adjustment was expected."

She appeared relieved if only a little disappointed. "What should I do?"

"My advice is to increase your meditation regimen and don't shirk on your social activities," he advised.

She nodded with as much confidence as she could, "Yeah, okay." Then, since she hadn't had an intimate encounter that day, due to her anxiety, she scooted over to him.

He recognized her advance and pulled down his scarf so she could see his smile and make the next logical step. She did as he expected and kissed him. She found comfort in their warmth and familiarity of their embrace and it made her bold enough to lay him down.

"I-I can feel your attraction," she admitted almost shamefully.

"Oh? You've felt it before," he shrugged, "Is this different somehow?"

"I've never felt it like this before. Are you letting me feel it more than before?" she asked.

"I have been able to let my guard down a little more lately," he admitted. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

She blushed. "No…it's just unexpected. You've always cut yourself off from me so much. Is it because we are no longer living together?"

"Perhaps," he non-committally agreed.

His evasiveness endeared her more than she expected. "Perhaps then, some day, I will know the extent of your feelings," she teased.

"Perhaps," he repeated before bringing her face down to his to reinitiate their kiss. As they progressed, he could feel his affections amplified and reflected back to him. He could tell that she had let her chakra control slip in recent days but continued to reason that it was due to her period of adjustment.

She left later that evening and didn't bother to wear her cloak. It was late enough that there was hardly anyone out and didn't happen upon another on her way home.

For comfort, she had another couple of cookies after meditating and going to bed. Her visit with Kakashi eased her anxiety enough to allow her to sleep. However, try as she might, the next couple of days were the same story but she was afraid of disappointing Kakashi or having him think she wasn't trying so she redoubled her efforts every day.

The third night, after she went to bed, she awoke with a start from the sounds of someone shuffling around in her new home. Hastily, she grabbed her bathrobe off the chair next to her bed and carefully snuck out into the hall. That was as far as she needed to go to see who was stumbling toward her bedroom.

"Jiraiya?" she blinked into the darkness.

"Ah, Calixta-chan!"

"What are you doing here?"

"You said I could come back anytime. I knocked but you didn't answer," he lied.

She knew he was lying and let it go. "I appreciate the thought but you're too drunk to mess around," she told him affectionately.

He stumbled toward her with a stupid grin, "Gimme some of that sweet milk and I'll be sober enough." He reached out and started squeezing her breasts, knowing the attention to trigger her let down reflex.

She just laughed and took him by the hand, leading the greedy man into her bed. He was right, the milk did sober him up but she didn't let him stop there. She made sure he finished what he started which resulted in him passing out while still suckling from her. She just smiled and tucked them in, snuggling up next to him and falling asleep.

Jiraiya walked her to the clinic the following morning feeling more than a little dazed but delighted that he was not hung over. She made sure he wasn't waiting for her when she left after her regular appointment.


	10. Breaking Point

It took over an hour of waiting after she was finished for Jiraiya to get bored enough to wander off to do other things. Calixta breathed a sigh of relief as she exited but only made it half way home before she happened upon someone else. This time, she received a warning before being glomped by Akamaru. He couldn't help barking enthusiastically as he ran up to her to jump on her and lick her face.

"Ah!" she nearly shriek, throwing the dog off her but he didn't relent, simply jumping on her again and this time diving down her shirt. "Ugh, Akamaru!" she scolded pulling him from her blouse.

"I'm s-" Kiba began.

"So sorry, yeah I know," she almost snapped at him but then when he visibly started at her harsh tone and the dog started to whine, her features softened. "Forgive me. I've had a trying morning."

"Of course," Kiba gathered his disappointed pup, keeping his eyes respectfully downcast.

She gave a sigh of exasperation. "It's okay. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's okay," he eased. "Everyone has a bad day once in a while."

His attempt to cheer her up worked, if only a little.

"Why don't you walk me home, if you have the time?" she offered.

Kiba perked up. "I'd love to!"

His enthusiasm bothered her a little but she let it go. She noticed that he walked a little closer to her than usual but her short temper earlier seemed to dampen his enthusiasm. Then, once they reached her front steps he gave her a quick, shy little kiss on the cheek before leaving her be.

Normally, she wouldn't have thought twice about his advance. Since she had been so forward with him in the past, such an affection would have been warranted, if not expected. So, she tried to shrug it off as that possibly combined with her slightly waning control and spent the rest of the day meditating, making sure to visit Kakashi that evening for another intimate visit.

* * *

The following morning, there was a polite knock on her door. She was pleased to see Tenten standing on her porch. "Good morning, what can I do for you?"

She smiled at the older girl. "Guy-sensai wants to know if you'd join us for training this afternoon."

"For what purpose?" she questioned carefully.

"The exercise he designed is for four people, two teams of two, and we need a fourth," she explained.

Calixta nodded, hoping this was the distraction she was looking for. "Sure, sounds good. I'll join you after lunch?"

Tenten nodded and said her good bye.

Calixta didn't know that it was actually Kakashi's request that she join Guy's team for training. He too was hoping that the training would provide an outlet for her anxiety and frustration and help her workout whatever was causing her chakra control to slip.

She met them at their usual training ground that afternoon only to be led to the edge of the forest, where Guy intended them to start their exercise. They drew lots randomly and Calixta was paired with Tenten, which gave her mild relief. Sensing her discomfort, Guy pulled her aside for a moment before starting.

"I know in the past I've told you to only use taijutsu while training with my students but at this juncture, I think it would be unfair," he began.

"Unfair? Don't you think it's unfair for me to use my other abilities?" she tried.

"That was before. Now, I think that to make this exercise fair you should be able to do whatever you think would be appropriate within your means. It would put you and your partner at a distinct disadvantage to limit you like that and I want both teams to have an even chance of winning," he explained.

She gave a nod of understanding. "Okay," she nodded with forced confidence.

He decided not to say anything about her obvious anxiety because Kakashi had warned him about her recent lack of confidence.

The two pairs parted ways shortly after.

"Okay," Tenten began, "we have to come up with some sort of tactic before they catch up with us or else we don't stand a chance. Neji can see for like forever so it has to be really good."

Calixta nodded in agreement. "You know them better than I do. What do you think they'll do?"

She thought for a moment. "Most likely, Lee will ambush us and let Neji sneak attack from behind," she informed.

The older girl pursed her lips thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then we need to catch them off guard."

"That'll be really hard with Neji's eyes," Tenten reminded.

"That's why what we're doing has to look like something else," she continued.

"Like a distraction. Good idea. First we need to come up with our plan then work the distraction around it, I think," she added.

Calixta nodded again. "Sounds good. What should our attack be?"

They discussed their options for several minutes but they ran out of time before they heard Lee's approach. It was obvious that he was trying to sneak up on them but he wasn't doing a very good job.

"This isn't good. They're already on the move and we don't have a plan yet," Tenten fretted.

"Then we'll just have to improvise," Calixta told her confidently.

"What'd you have in mind?" she anxiously countered.

"How's your substitution jutsu?"

"They're not going to fall for that," Tenten dismissed.

"They will if they're distracted," Calixta reminded.

"It'd better be one hell of a distraction," she scoffed.

"Let me worry about that. If there's one thing I can do, it's distract people," she smiled mischievously.

Tenten knew that was true but still wasn't sure. She pushed her doubt aside, figuring that she could blame a failure on the older girl's inexperience, and they each summoned a substitution of themselves.

They had the substitutions hide nearby since they had no chakra to sense while the two young women stayed in the clearing.

"Okay, they're getting close. Now what?" Tenten pressed.

"I think that since the substitutions don't have a chakra to sense, we should let them do the ambush. We'll provide the distraction. When the subs appear, the guys will thing that we are the substitutions and attack them instead. By the time they realize their mistake, we'll hopefully have them," she reasoned.

Just as she finished, they heard Lee's footsteps from one side and Calixta could sense that Neji was close as well, even if he was much quieter.

"They're here," Calixta whispered.

Tenten panicked for a second because they hadn't quite worked out their distraction. "Shit," she muttered. "What do w-" was as far as she got before the boys started to emerge from the underbrush.

Calixta felt a little bad for interrupting her teammate but she knew action had to be taken before they lost all advantage. She took the younger girl by the cheeks and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

Tenten forcefully pushed away but was only allowed to go so far. The physical strength of the young woman holding her made her gasp, "What are you doing?"

Luckily, because of the gasp, Tenten's voice was hushed enough that the approaching males didn't hear.

"Distracting," Calixta whispered back, "play along or it won't work," she quietly urged into the younger girl's ear. "Pretend you're into it."

Tenten almost laughed. She didn't have to pretend. It just took pushing down the majority of her inhibitions to concede to the request. To justify their actions, she told herself it was for the sake of the competition and when she started to let go, she found it easier to comply. Before she knew it, they were practically making out.

They eyes of the two young men watching them grew wide with awe. Had the two women been paying closer attention, he would have heard their mutual gasps of surprise at what they saw.

Just as Neji snickered, he heard someone drop down behind him. "Shit," he muttered as he turned around to find Tenten standing behind him with a triumphant smirk. She nudged him with her staff toward the clearing. Seeing no immediate way to defeat her, he went along.

Lee had a similar experience with Calixta pointing him toward the clearing. When the two young men made eye contact, they took action in the form of attacking the women behind them only to have them turn into blocks of wood. By the time they turned back around, the real Tenten and Calixta had daggers at their throats.

"We got you. Surrender," Calixta told them.

Reluctantly, they agreed.

"Fine," Neji grumbled and the two young women lowered their weapons. "That was despicable," he growled, then, turned to Tenten. "I expect that from her but I can't believe you'd stoop so low."

"I-I-" Tenten faltered. She respected Neji greatly and his disfavor pained her.

"You're just angry that you fell for it," Calixta sauntered over.

Neji scoffed.

"Oh? Perhaps you're jealous that I wasn't on your team," she taunted with half-lidded eyes.

"Hardly, I would never-" he tried to defend.

Calixta giggled and turned to Lee. "You're not jealous, are you, Lee-san?"

Lee blinked in disbelief. "I-I don't understand," was all he could manage because of the strange rushing he felt throughout his being.

"Calixta, we won. We should go back to Guy-sensei," Tenten urged.

The older girl gave the younger a sideways glance. "Yes, of course," she started toward the edge of the forest where they knew he would be waiting.

"Why did you do that?" Neji demanded when he matched step with her.

"Hm?" she coyly prompted.

"Don't play coy with me!" he grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing her to turn and face him.

Calixta giggled again and took his hand in hers, "Don't be so cross. You have to lose sometimes and I doubt you'll fall for such a trick again in the future. Think of it as a learning experience," she encouraged sweetly.

Neji was pulled his hand away, disturbed by how little conviction he managed in the gesture. "Stop it! The exercise is over!" he grumbled.

"Shhh," she eased, placing a careful finger on his lips. "It's not over until we've proven that we've won," she reasoned.

Lee was unnerved by this exchange. He had never known Neji's conviction to waiver even slightly but he couldn't manage to say or do anything about it. Actually, he felt drawn to Calixta and a slight pang of jealousy that his teammate had engaged so much of her attention. "C-Come on, let's go," he barely urged and then started walking again, not realizing that it was because she was still standing in front of him and that he was actually moving toward her rather than their sensei.

"Of course," Calixta gave a sweet little smile over her shoulder at Lee and started walking again.

When they reached the edge of the forest where Guy was waiting, he was surprised to see them so soon.

"That was quick. What happened?" Guy prompted.

"They cheated!" Neji quickly accused.

"Cheated? How's that?"

"She used her stupid charka!" the young man with vacant eyes continued.

Guy smirked a little. "Is that so? Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Before Neji could continue further, Calixta took the opportunity to explain what had happened. "I assure you, it didn't take any of my special chakra to accomplish our tactic."

Tenten blushed furiously throughout the explanation and only managed to nod in agreement.

Guy nodded in approval. "I see. Well, you won't fall for that again, will you?" he teased his male students.

"That's what she said," Lee muttered.

"And she'd better be right. I expected that to take longer than it did so I don't have anything else planned for today. You may all take the afternoon off," he told them, receiving thanks from all as they parted.

Once they were out of sight and earshot of Guy, Neji pushed Calixta up against the wall of one of the buildings. "If you _ever_ try anything like that again, I will cut you down myself!" he nearly growled.

Calixta gave a gasp at his sudden contact. "Ah, please, don't-" she tried to argue.

Neji was annoyed that she didn't try to fight him. He knew she had considerable physical strength and could at least push him away if she wanted to.

"Neji!" Tenten tried to scold but to no avail.

"You stay out of this. After all that, I'm tempted to think you're just as bad as she is!" he retorted harshly.

"Please, Neji-san," Calixta pleaded breathlessly, "It was my idea. She was only playing along to distract you," she tried to reason.

He growled again and pushed her harder against the wall until Lee pulled him away himself. "Neji, back off," he insisted.

He did but only because he was forced to. With a sneer, he stormed off.

"I'm sorry about that. Neji hates to lose. It doesn't happen very often so he's not exactly used to it," Lee tried to reason.

"Of course," Calixta managed. "It was never my intent to anger him. I only wanted us to stand a chance against you two," she told him with uncharacteristic meekness.

"I know. It's okay, really. He'll get over it before ya know it," he smiled.

She smiled back and he felt his stomach flip-flop.

"I'm gunna go make sure Neji's okay," Tenten told them before running off in his direction.

Calixta's smile fell a little.

"They'll be fine," Lee assured and her smile returned.

"I hope you're right. If the notion that I would ever cause the slightest schism in your team I would never have accepted to train with you," she told him.

"Don't worry about it," he told her again but before he could continue his reassurances, his stomach growled. "Why don't I walk you home? Then, I have to get a bite to eat."

She agreed and was surprised that he took her arm to walk her home. However, he made no other advances and simply took him as being polite so since she knew he was hungry, she invited him in.

"Would you like to come in?"

"Aw, that's okay. I gotta go get somethin' to eat," he politely refused.

His refusal gave her confidence. "I dislike eating alone. If you'd like, you could eat here," she offered.

He smiled widely because he remembered how Naruto bragged about how good her cooking was. "Sounds good!"

They chatted while she cooked and ate and they both found their conversation comfortable and pleasant. Calixta also found that Lee was even more like his sensei than she expected, especially when it came to being influenced by her chakra.

"Lee-san, I have a confession to make," she carefully began.

"What's that?" he responded with equal carefulness.

"I wasn't exactly honest earlier," she admitted.

"About what?" he pressed anxiously.

"About using my chakra during training."

"You did? I thought I felt something but I wasn't sure," he told her.

"It wasn't until after we already had you though," she reasoned. "I didn't have to…but I wanted to make sure we really had you. I thought at least Neji would try something on our way back. It was more like insurance than anything else."

"You lied," he accused quietly.

"I just wasn't entirely honest. I told Guy-sensei that I didn't use it during the diversion and I didn't," she rationalized.

"You lied to Guy-sensei!" he yelled angrily as he stood.

"Lee-san, please," she pleaded but he was already leaving.

"Respectful honorifics don't make up for what you did," he told her and stormed out.

She chased after him, so upset that she stumbled down the steps, leaving her to grasp at his ankle in a futile effort to stop him. "Please, don't go!" she continued to plead. "I need your company."

He shook her off him. "I can't keep the company of someone who lies to Guy-sensei!" With that, he was gone, leaving her to sob outside her house alone.

However, when she noticed that she was starting to draw attention, she ran back inside and threw herself on her bed where she cried until she passed out. When she awoke later that evening, she ate another couple of cookies while deciding what to do. Less than an hour later, she decided to go to Guy's home to admit her error and submit her apology.

Since it was the middle of the night, her knocking woke him and he answered in his pajamas. "Calixta-chan?"he blinked into the darkness.

"Guy-sensei," she panted, out of breath from running to his home.

"What's the matter? What is it?" he pressed.

"I…I know I'm not…not supposed to apologize," her words were broken because she was still trying to catch her breath in addition to trying to control the tears welling up in her eyes. "But I have to."

"Hey, calm down. Whatever it is can't be all that bad," he tried to ease but found it had little effect. "Why don't you come in and we can talk?"

She shook her head fitfully, feeling that she didn't deserve to even set foot in his residence.

"Okay, here," he stepped outside and led her to a bench on his porch. " Now, what is it?"

"I lied to you…earlier, during training," she elaborated.

"Oh?" his concern shifted gears. "How's that?"

She took a moment to explain what had happened. "I'm sorry. I should have been truthful. Please, forgive me." She couldn't even make eye contact with him anymore. "Here," she handed him the leaf crest he had given her. "I don't deserve this."

He pushed it back into her hand. "I forgive you," he told her simply.

She blinked up at him in surprise which allowed the tears welling up in her eyes to flow freely down her cheeks. "R-Really?"

"Of course. It was a small transgression and since it apparently bothered you so much, I doubt it will happen again," he reasoned.

Without thinking, she hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "Oh, thank you, thank you," she repeated until her voice failed her.

"Shh," he soothed, petting her hair affectionately, and when her sobbing waned, he pushed her away. "But did you really have to do it in the middle of the night?" he half-teased.

She felt bad for waking him. "I-" she almost apologized again but stopped herself. "I didn't think about what time it was," she admitted.

"Obviously," he laughed. "Since you're here, is there anything else you want to talk about?" He had a hard time believing that was all it took to disturb her to such an extreme. It seemed more like the straw that broke the camel's back.

She gave him an almost fearful look. "I…I don't think that would be appropriate," she managed.

"Oh? You think I'm not as open as Kakashi about certain things," he observed.

She still appeared unsure. "I feel my control slipping. I don't know why. I don't know what to do," she fretted.

"Well, you just moved out on your own," he tried to reason.

"I don't know if it's just that. I hope and pray that's all it is…but, oh, I just don't know anymore!"

"Hey, it's alright. You're a strong person. If you weren't, you wouldn't have made it this far and you certainly wouldn't have apologized to me," he told her seriously. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you can work through it."

"Maybe…but how long will it take? How many relationships will I destroy in the process?"

"I think that you'll find your relationships to be stronger than you give them credit for."

She smiled warmly up at him. "Thank you," she told him quietly.

"It's nothing. It's the least I can do. All things considered, you taught my students a valuable lesson today," he reasoned.

She laughed a little at that and it seemed to lighten the mood but her smile quickly fell and she broke eye contact, shame overcoming her features.

"What is it?" he lifted her chin to force eye contact again.

For a brief moment, her lips trembled with indecision but when she sensed the anxiety, it caused her to take action. She lunged upward and kissed him forcefully.

He made a sound of surprise and pushed her away. He was obviously speechless with a mix of emotions. He was put off by her forwardness but at the same time endeared by her situation. "Calixta," he gasped.

"Guy-sensei…I know you don't like such forwardness but I felt compelled to take action and…well, it was the least forward thing I could think of to get my point across," she blushingly told him.

He leaned away a little more, "And what point is that?" he hesitantly inquired.

She appeared a little hurt by his need for verification. "I…I want you…intimately…" she managed.

Her admission made him blush. He wasn't sure how to respond to her.

She sensed his hesitation and scooted close to him again. This time she tried a more subtle approach by placing her hand on his thigh and gently running her fingers along the seam of his pants.

Her touch nearly made him tremble as it sent chills through his body. Placing a careful hand on hers to keep it from moving any higher on his leg, he gave her an even look. "I don't think we should."

She appeared crestfallen and wanted to pull her hand away but the fact that he didn't remove it for her made her leave it be. "That's why I want you," she told him quietly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," he barely told her.

"You're not inclined toward me…it makes me feel safe engaging with you," she elaborated.

"Safe?" he almost stuttered.

"Yes, of course," she nearly laughed, "Your strength toward my charka makes me confident that you won't bend to it as others do."

He sighed at her persistence. "I will accommodate you," he agreed.

She appeared genuinely surprised by that and perked up immediately. "Really?"

"You persisted thinking I wouldn't?" he almost laughed.

"It was worth a try," she shrugged.

He shook his head in exasperation and led her inside. Once inside, he told her, "Go to the bedroom, take off your clothes, and get into my bed," he told her.

She laughed a little at the forwardness of his language, nodded eagerly, and scampered off. Guy joined her shortly after with a few things from his bathroom. He lit a candle and told her to lie down on her stomach. She found that odd but complied in spite of the urge to ask him if he didn't want to face her.

Carefully, he crawled onto the bed and pulled the sheet down to the small of her back, resting just above the curve of her ass. Then, he poured some warm oil into his palms and, after rubbing them together, he started to rub it into her back. She gasped at the feeling of the warm oil and his strong hands on her tense muscles.

"Relax," he told her in a soft voice as he ran his thumbs up either side of her spine. She moaned at the attention as she felt her tension start to leave her.

He worked her back, shoulders, and arms until all the knots are gone. Then, he covered her back and moved down to her feet. However, before he could really get started there, she gasped and sat up, covering her chest.

"What's the matter?"

"I…I forgot to express my milk before rushing over here," she looked guiltily down at his sheets. "It usually doesn't let down so easily but I was so relaxed it just sort of happened. I seem to have leaked a little."

He didn't understand until he looked down at where she had been laying to see two wet spots where her breasts had been. "I see," he managed swallowing hard. "But you're not-um…That is, you can't-"

"No, I'm barren," she assured him.

"Well…we can't just let you leak everywhere," he almost laughed. "What should we do?"

She blushed deeply. "Would you like to drink it?" she asked shyly.

Even though he had been half expecting such an offer, the way she spoke it took him off guard. She seemed to think that even just asking would offend him even though he felt that the offense would be his if he didn't accept. After a moment of consideration, he agreed. "Sure, I'll give it a taste."

She gave him a wide smile and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. It's so much easier on me that way."

"As opposed to?" he prompted as he hesitantly moved closer.

"The machines they have at the clinic or doing it manually, like with your hands," she managed.

He nodded. "So…I just…suck it out?" he hesitantly asked.

She smiled warmly at his shyness. "Pretty much." She gave him guidance as they went along and he was surprisingly receptive to her words.

Guy was surprised that when she laced her fingers in his hair to cradle his head, he wasn't startled or worried at all. In fact, he found it very comforting.

Once she was empty, he had her lay down on her back so he could pick up where he left off, with her feet. From the intensity of her reaction to his attentions there, he thought she might have had an orgasm but he didn't dare to ask. He even caught her biting his pillow a little when he ran his thumb up and down the arches of her feet.

Those reactions waned slightly when he started to work on her calves and move up from there. He was slightly disturbed when he felt compelled to move upward more quickly, to give her a different kind of massage. He got the impression that she desired that, but knew better than to ask. Even if she did, he knew he would refuse. She had placed great faith in his resistance to her chakra so even if it was his deepest desire, he would have denied it, himself, and her.

Fortunately, he did not have to make such a choice because by the time he reached her thighs, she was sound asleep. He smiled down at her, endeared by how peaceful and innocent she looked, and he wondered what she would have been like had her circumstances been different or at least a little less complicated.

Guy let her rest like that for nearly an hour as he folded her clothes and did a few other things before wrapping her in his blanket and taking her home. He wanted to let her stay the remainder of the night but he knew better and needed at least another few hours of sleep.

When Calixta woke late the following morning, she almost believed that the events of the night before had been a dream but the scent of the strong man on the sheet she had been wrapped in assured her of the reality. It seemed his very essence was in every fiber of the fabric and she couldn't help staying in bed long after she awoke to savor it.

After her morning duties, she knew she should return the sheet, if only out of courtesy for the other man's things. However, the scent and the feeling of the sheet relaxed her in ways she could not explain and felt compelled to keep it. So, instead, she opted to replace it with one of her own of the same make and dimensions. Such things were standard issue and she figured he wouldn't mind the substitution, if he even noticed it.

She took one of her sheets, folding it carefully, and left it on his doorstep with a short note of thanks. It was meant as a private note, but it didn't stay that way.

Kakashi had been keeping an eye on her and her rather unusual gift intrigued him so he couldn't help sneaking a peek. What he read intrigued him further and he stuck around for Guy to return that afternoon to harass him about it.

"Kakashi?" Guy was surprised to see the other instructor lounging on his porch reading a dirty manga, well, the dirty manga was not a surprise. "To what do I owe the surprise?"

"I had an amazing time last night. No one has ever made me feel so good. I hope you won't be offended if I pay you another visit," Kakashi quoted.

Guy blinked with confusion. "What are you babbling about?"

Kakashi made a lazy motion toward the folded sheet with the little note pinned to it. Guy gave him a suspicious look and examined the note. There was more on it than what Kakashi had recited but that was the most interesting part.

"This was not for you," Guy accused.

"It is Calixta's handwriting. I'd recognize it anywhere," he offhandedly told the other man. "I didn't realize you two were so close," he almost laughed.

Guy rolled his eyes with immense irritation. "Is there a point to this?"

"Since she is my student, I feel it is my place to pry. I didn't realize you and Calixta were so close," he chided.

"If there's something you want to know, just ask. You know I don't like these kinds of games," he nearly hissed.

"I just want to know if you fucked her, that's all," he offhandedly answered.

Guy sneered and barely stopped himself from punching the other man. "No, I didn't," he barely answered.

Kakashi shrugged. "That's too bad. I'm sure it would have been good."

The dark-haired man picked up the sheet and started inside. "Why not ask her yourself?" he asked suddenly when his hand reached the knob.

"She'd tell me far more than I care to know. You keep things simple. That's what I like about you, Guy," he complimented and feeling he had far overstayed his welcome, he hopped off the porch and went about his day.

"Tell her to use an envelope next time she wants to leave me a note," Guy offered as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

Kakashi opted not to bother Calixta about her evening with Guy. He knew their relationship was tenuous anyway and that it was probably better, at least at this point, not to push it. However, he still observed that she was growing increasingly anxious and that her chakra control was still slipping. It bothered him greatly and decided to pay Guy another visit a couple days later.

"What is it?" Guy answered the door gruffly. After their last conversation, he was still a little irked that the other man had invaded his privacy, however slightly.

"I know you're still annoyed about the other day…but I was hoping I could talk to you about Calixta," he broached carefully.

Guy rolled his eyes and let Kakashi inside if only because he didn't want to have that conversation out where others could hear them.

"I don't necessarily want any details about your encounter with her. I know you're a private person and I don't really want to invade your privacy," Kakashi hedged.

"Quit beating around the bush. I hate that more than your prying," Guy tried not to snap.

"Of course. When you spoke with Calixta, what did you talk about? What did she say?"

Guy took a minute or so to rehash the events of their training session before going into their conversation that evening.

"I'm surprised you told her it was okay to use her abilities," Kakashi observed.

"I wanted the exercise to be fair. It would have been a distinct disadvantage for her team if I limited her so severely. Her taijutsu is remarkable and I know she's started to grasp the basics of ninjutsu and genjutsu but her strange chakra is her trump card. If I asked her told that back, then I would feel obliged to ask the members of my team to hold back on their strengths as well and that would have defeated the purpose of the exercise."

"I understand. Were you aware at the time of her slipping control?"

"I'm afraid not. Though, I'm not sure I would have limited her even if I did. I think exercise would be the best way for her to master control of her chakra," Guy observed. "It is my observation that you have taken a similar avenue to help her control her abilities."

Kakashi nodded at that. "That is true. So, she came in the middle of the night to apologize for her mistruth?"

"Indeed. I tried to invite her in but she seemed apprehensive about entering so we spoke out on the porch. That was when she expressed her concern for chakra control. I tried to reassure her but it seemed to do little good. Should I not have told her it was alright to use her special abilities?" he suddenly questioned. "Even if it did teach my boys a valuable lesson," he added offhandedly.

"I don't think so. I'm just trying to figure out what's got her so bent out of shape. I don't think that it's simply because she's living alone now. She's more than capable of taking care of her needs. I made sure of that before agreeing to let her go." He left out the part about not being consulted about her relocation.

"What do you think it is then?"

"I don't know. She hasn't mentioned anything unusual that would have triggered her slipping control."

"You're really worried about her, aren't you?"

"It is my responsibility to worry about that kind of thing," Kakashi remarked.

"It's more than that. You really care for her, don't you?" Guy pressed.

"I'm sure you've noticed that it's very easy to become…emotionally invested in her," he covered.

"Indeed," Guy gave a minimal response to cover his own emotional interest.

"In the note she left you, she said that you made her feel better than anyone has ever been capable of," he carefully broached. "I'd like to know what you did that was so special."

Guy looked away. "She was extremely agitated. I helped her relax," he tried.

"How did you manage that?" Kakashi pressed.

"I gave her a massage, nothing elaborate, just worked out the knots in her muscles," he unwillingly elaborated.

"Interesting approach," the white-haired man nodded. "Most would have given into her more…carnal wiles," he observed.

"She proposed it, but she places great confidence in my resistance to her chakra. Even if that was what I wanted to do, I wouldn't have. I believe it would have been detrimental to the situation," he continued.

Kakashi nodded respectfully. "I can understand why she would want to see you again then," he almost laughed. "If she does, I would appreciate it if you let me know…especially if she exhibits any peculiar behavior or expresses any further concern for her slipping chakra control."

"Of course," Guy nodded.

"Based on your time with her, do you have any speculation as to what has caused her distress?" Kakashi asked.

"I can't say. She wasn't very specific. I don't think she knows what's causing it. If she did, then I believe she would have a better handle on it."

"So you think it's an external force affecting her control?" Kakashi assumed.

"I don't have any real basis for such an assumption or that kind but based on what I do know about her, it seems unlikely that it is a personal breakdown," Guy theorized.

Kakashi nodded. "I was starting to get that impression as well. It's been about a week since she moved out of my place and I've left her alone longer than that. She seems to think that's what's causing it but I think that's just the most obvious excuse and she's using it because she can't think of any other reason."

They spoke like that for another few minutes before Kakashi took his leave to go visit Calixta. She had just gotten home from the market and was unpacking her groceries when he knocked on her door. She could tell it was him from the way he knocked and called for him to enter.

"Good afternoon," she greeted happily.

"Good afternoon," he returned the pleasantry. "How have you been?" he asked as he started looking around. In addition to the things he knew she already had, there were several new items in her home.

"I'm getting along. Sometimes, it's harder than others but I know if I keep trying, I'll make it," she forced a smile for a moment but then stopped because she knew he could feel it was forced.

"You've gotten a few new things since moving in here," he commented.

She nodded. "I'm still surprised that I've received so many housewarming gifts," she told him.

"You shouldn't be surprised. You've made many friends," he offered.

This time she smiled genuinely and showed him some of the things she'd received. "Oh, and these cookies. They came with an anonymous note and are quite delectable," she offered him some on a plate.

Kakashi tried one and found it average at best but she seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. He left shortly after but returned the next day with her primary physician while she was out and had her examine the gifts Calixta had received. For the most part, she found nothing unusual. Most of the items she had received were decorative and reasoned that if any of the gifts were affecting her, it was most likely the cookies. However, she did not want to make any sort of conjectures without more information so she took one of the confections for further analysis, telling Kakashi that the tests would take at least a day to perform. She wasn't comfortable with estimating how long it would take to analyze the results and draw a conclusion, if one was available. He thanked her and they parted ways.

* * *

That night Calixta felt her control slipping further but managed to contain her chakra for the most part. The following day, however, she had felt she was having even less success so she called on Ebisu to help her out. He was more than happy to oblige, of course, which normally wouldn't have bothered her, but she found his enthusiasm slightly unnerving. Trying to put it out of her mind, she made dinner for them, enjoyed the last of the cookies for dessert and they retired to her bedroom.

Their love making session was intense and enjoyable for both of them. It would have been more so had they not been interrupted. A short while after they began, there was a familiar barking outside her window. Without thinking about her state of undress, Calixta went to the window, opened it, and poked her head outside to find Kiba and Akamaru standing outside.

Before she could say anything however, because he knew she would be overly polite, Ebisu looked out the window and shouted, "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Ah!" Kiba made a sound of surprise. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him," he tried to scoop up his dog, blaming the intrusion on him even though he too felt the draw of the young woman's chakra and hadn't really realized where they were going until they were already there.

"Get out of here!" Ebisu scolded.

"Ebisu, please, calm down," Calixta urged to little effect. "He's just a boy."

Eibsu scoffed. "He's more than that and you know it," he snapped at her before turning back to the window. "Leave now and I won't tell your mom," he threatened.

Kiba gave a mute nod, gathered his pup, and ran off. However, he couldn't bring himself to go very far, only far enough not to get into trouble. The last thing he needed was to explain to his mother what he was doing at the beautiful young woman's house in the dark of night.

From his vantage point, Kiba was able to observe that he wasn't the only one to interrupt the couple that evening. He almost gasped when he saw Master Jiraiya walk up to her house and enter without so much as a knock.

This time, they were nearly finished when they were interrupted and this time by the older man barging into her bedroom.

"What's all this?" Jiraiya bellowed, completely undeterred by their state.

"What the hell?" Ebisu nearly shouted. "Don't you have any manners, old man?"

Jiraiya gave a hearty laugh. "Calixta, my dear, why don't you shoo this boy away and you can have some real fun with a real man," he haughtily ignored the man on top of her.

Calixta was about to try to get him to leave them be as well when she was once again cut off by Eibsu.

"I don't have to sit here and be insulted by the likes of you," Ebisu stood and took up a threatening posture.

Jiraiya scoffed. "Tch, like you could take me. Why don't you run off before you hurt yourself," he taunted.

Ebisu's anger flared and he started to take a swing at the larger man only to be stopped short by Calixta. "Please, don't do this. It's not worth fighting about!" she pleaded.

Jiraiya laughed heartily. "My dear, it won't be much of a fight. I'll have him out of your hair in no time, I assure you."

"How dare you? What right do you have to come in here and say things like that?" Ebisu tried to take another swing and was once again stopped.

"That's right, sweetie," Jiraiya continued to laugh, "You best stop him before he hurts himself. We both know he can't handle the likes of you anyway."

This time, Ebisu was too quick for her to stop him but the older man was ready for it and easily deflected the blow.

"Stop this! Right now!" Calixta stomped her foot for effect but it hardly seemed to get their attention. Seeing that her protests had little effect on them, she gave a scream of frustration as she gathered her robe and stormed out. Seeing that they had decided to follow her, but still seemed inclined to fight over her, she turned back for a short moment before exiting her home, "You are both truly impossible!" She slammed the door, only then noticing that while Kiba and Akamaru had apparently left, several others had either taken his place or were approaching. There was a couple of the people from the market that she had charmed during Kakashi's experiments and the three members of Team Guy as well as Naruto and Sasuke.

"What's going on?" Sasuke nearly growled when he noticed the others.

"I dunno. I just kinda started walking and didn't realize where I was going until I got here," Lee managed.

"Tenten?" Neji almost laughed when he saw their female team member approaching as well.

"Neji? Lee?" she stopped gasping names in surprise when she saw how many others were there.

"Calixta, what's going on?" Naruto tried to question when she emerged from the front door.

She didn't reply. Her eyes grew wide with horror and she bolted.

"Hey! Get your ass back here!" Sasuke called after her and almost started to chase her but stopped himself when he realized he wasn't the only one who felt compelled to do so. He figured that if he gave into that compulsion, then others would be more likely to follow.

Just then, Ebisu and Jiraiya emerged from the doorway.

"What's going on here?" Ebisu demanded, his frustration reaching a breaking point.

Seeing the crowd made Jiraiya examine his reasons for coming to her and realized that they weren't entirely his own. "This isn't good," he muttered.

"What is it?" Ebisu pressed. "Do you know what the hell is going on here?"

The older man sighed. "It would be best if all of you just went back to your homes and pretended this didn't happen," he advised.

For the most part, the crowd obeyed the request. They knew about Calixta's abilities and once they realized that it might have been her that drew them from their homes, they shook it off and left. As they were leaving, Ebisu ducked back inside to finish dressing himself.

"Naruto," Jiraiya began, "If you wouldn't mind, please go get Kakashi-sensei. I believe this concern is his to deal with."

"Yeah, okay," the blonde nodded and ran off to his instructor's home.

"Do you think she's okay?" Ebisu questioned Jiraiya, since he seemed to have an idea as to what was happening.

"Calixta…she tried to warn me…but I thought she was over reacting," he sighed, seating himself on the front step.

"Over reacting? About what?"

"Don't tell me you didn't feel it too," he gave a sad little laugh, "No, perhaps you didn't. Ever since she moved out on her own, her chakra control has been slipping. I think what we just saw was the effect of her losing control. It makes sense that it happened while you two were having sex," he mused. "She really cares for you. You know that, right? No matter what happens, don't forget that."

"Don't tell me what to do," he snapped but tried to keep the advice in mind. He stayed there with the older man out of concern for the young woman who had won him over so thoroughly.

Sasuke, who had only ducked around the side of the building while the others were leaving, heard this exchange and decided to go after her. Unlike the others who had been drawn to Calixta that evening, Sasuke recognized the energy that had drawn him there and he came out of morbid curiosity rather than sexual interest. It was that same interest that made him follow her into the woods.

* * *

Calixta ran until her legs gave out and she sat sobbing on the forest floor. "Why? Why?" was all she could choke out until she heard laughter a moment later. "Who's that?" she shouted into the darkness. "Who's there?"

The laughing presence had just been about to reveal itself when Sasuke approached. Then, out of curiosity, it stayed hidden.

"Calixta?" Sasuke carefully approached.

"Stop laughing at me!" she screamed and tried to scramble away but was too fatigued to get very far.

He gave her an odd look because he had been far from laughing at her. "Calixta!" he scolded. "Running away isn't the answer!"

"Don't tell me what to do! You of all people know how hard this is to control. I thought I had it. I was a fool, an utter fool! Give me your kunai and I'll end this now," she pleaded.

Sasuke was about to give further words of consolation as he approached but she suddenly reached out and took one of his knives. "This is absurd! Stop your foolishness!" He reached for the weapon but she scrambled away.

Then, they both heard the laughter. "Don't stop her." A female, a few years older than Calixta appeared a couple feet from them. "This should have happened a long time ago," she hissed disdainfully.

"Y-You?" Calixta gasped, nearly dropping the knife she held pointed at her stomach.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

The woman laughed.

"Why are you here?" Calixta barely asked.

"You know this person?" Sasuke turned to the younger woman.

"I'm glad you remember me," the woman laughed again. "Who is this boy who cares so deeply for you? No doubt one of your many victims," she scoffed.

"I am no victim! I am her teammate!" Sasuke answered forcefully but received another condescending laugh in response.

"Don't worry about him," Calixta dismissed before turning to Sasuke. "You should leave. This doesn't concern you."

"Go ahead, finish what you were about to do," the woman urged. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to get a front row seat."

"What is this? Who are you?" Sasuke continued his unsatisfied demands.

* * *

Naruto arrived at Kakashi's house and gave him a quick rundown of what little he knew of the situation as they ran to Calixta's house. On their way, they ran into Calixta's physician who was in a hurry to get to Kakashi's.

"Doctor, what is it?" Kakashi prompted when he saw how much of a hurry she was in.

"We were right…It was the cookies. Something was wrong with them. They were tainted. It's what's causing her loss of control," she reported.

"We have to find her," Kakashi resolutely replied. "Naruto, you said she ran off after all the commotion. Which way did she go?" he hastily asked.

The young man pointed, though he was unsure as to exactly which way she'd gone.

"You two go tell Master Jiraiya and whoever else is waiting at her home and let them know what's happened. We have to find her and let her know it's not her fault," he told them before running off to find her.

* * *

"I'm an old acquaintance of Calixta here," the woman in question finally answered.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke pressed now that he was getting answers.

"I thought I told you, I'm here to watch her do what she should have done a long time ago," she seethed before turning back to the woman kneeling on the ground, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"You've been watching me?" Calixta suddenly asked.

"I've been keeping an eye on you," she admitted.

"I don't know who you are or what your real purpose is for being here and frankly I don't care. My patience is running out. Leave now before I make you leave," Sasuke threatened.

She laughed at him. "I'll leave as soon as she's finished what she started."

Sasuke snarled and reached for another knife as he lunged at the mysterious woman antagonizing Calixta.

"No!" Calixta tackled him to the ground. "No! Please!"

"She's antagonizing you. If she won't leave, I'm going to stop her," he snapped.

"No, she's suffered enough pain," Calixta pleaded.

"What are you babbling about?" he shook her off him and managed to grab his other knife from her in the process.

"You're not going to go through with it, are you? You coward!" the woman accused. "You're worried about my suffering? What about Kujo's? Or that of your parents? Your dishonor is infamous and it follows you like a train of disaster! You have the audacity to think that just because you've moved to yet another village that you're a different person! You even nurse these people like some kind of blasphemous mother figure. You're no healer! You're the same manipulative tramp you always were!" the woman yelled.

Again, Calixta lost control of her tears. "You're right! I don't deserve the trust, the time and energy of these people," she sobbed. "I never meant to hurt anyone but what I mean to do doesn't seem to ever matter. It all turns out the same!" She turned back to Sasuke and tried to wrestle one of the knives away from him again. "Give it to me! Let me end this here and now!"

"You're crazy! I don't know what this is all about but I do know you're not the same person that we brought here. You've changed, gotten better. You've gained control over your chakra and its effects on others," he tried to reason with her but it was difficult while fighting her off.

"Don't you see? It was only temporary. I can't keep it up and I shouldn't burden others with it any longer!"

The mystery woman was greatly amused by this exchange. Her amusement doubled when a slip of the hand caused the knife to slip and stab Calixta deep in the side. She laughed loudly at the younger woman's cry of pain. "That's right! Die slowly! Bleed your tainted blood all over to prove what a mess you're entire existence as been!"

Just as she was reveling in her apparent success, Kakashi appeared and cut her fun short. At the sight of the man she recognized as Calixta's caretaker, she started to flee.

"Kakashi-sensei! Don't let her get away!" Sasuke ordered.

"Get Calixta to the hospital!" Kakashi called back as he chased the other woman.

"Hold on," Sasuke nearly pleaded.

"So warm…" she whispered, loosely grabbing at his shirt.

He wasn't sure if she was talking about him or the feeling of shock that was likely overcoming her. "You're wound's not that bad. They'll fix you up at the hospital. You just have to hold on."

She gave a sad little smile and lost consciousness. In spite of himself, Sasuke found himself praying that she would hold on at least until they got to those who could help her.

* * *

Calixta awoke late the following day. "Wh-Where am I?" she blinked, obviously disoriented.

"Shhh," Kakashi eased. "It's okay. You're in the hospital."

She bolted up right but the sudden dizziness this caused had her laying back down a second later.

"Take it easy. You're gunna be okay," he told her.

"Sena, what happened to Sena?" she suddenly fretted.

"She's in holding awaiting a hearing," he told her.

Calixta appeared concerned by that. "I don't think that's necessary."

"You may not think so but our laws frown on the poisoning of our citizens," he informed.

"Poisoning?" she blinked with incomprehension.

"Yes. She gave you those cookies and poisoned them so that you would lose control of your chakra," he explained.

"What? Really?" she appeared startled.

"Yes. Really. What happened wasn't your fault," he assured her.

She sat in silent contemplation for a long few minutes before speaking again. "That doesn't change everything that happened. All those people. I was supposed to be their friend and even if it wasn't my fault, I betrayed their trust," she barely said.

"Now, don't be so hard on yourself. They were confused but that's about it. In fact, if you're up to it, I believe there are some people waiting to see you," he told her with a sly little smile.

"People? Who?" she questioned carefully.

"Why don't I let them in? If you get tired, I can send them away," he reasoned as he went to the door and let those waiting inside.

She was expecting only one or two people, perhaps Kakashi's three students so she was more than stunned when a small parade of people entered her small hospital room. In addition to Kakashi's three students, there was Guy and Kurenai with their teams as well as Ebisu, Jiraiya, and several others. She gasped with surprise. "My goodness."

"I told you the wound wasn't that bad," Sasuke teased.

She blushed at his thinly veiled concern.

"You really had us worried there," Guy chided.

"I-I," she almost apologized. "I didn't mean to," she managed.

"Of course not," the man in green nodded.

"Is there something the matter?" Ebisu stepped up to the side of her bed.

"Oh, no, of course not. I just wasn't expecting so many people," she replied.

"You underestimate your friends," Jiraiya chided. "And I apologize for my behavior last night. I was boorish at best. I hope you can forgive me," he gave a slight bow.

She blushed. "Of course. I hope all of you can forgive me."

"Kakashi-sensei told us it wasn't your fault. Don't feel bad about what happened," Lee told her. "And I'm sorry about yelling at you the other day. If I had known-"

"Please," she cut him off. "You were right about what you said, regardless of my condition."

At that Akamaru gave a little bark. It was obvious that he wanted to go see her but was unsure because of her injuries.

"It's okay," she patted the bed next to her, "Come on over," she told the pup.

He hopped off of Kiba and snuggled up next to her.

A few minutes later Tsunade came in "Okay, well, Calixta is quite tired. Now that you've all seen that she's okay, I think we should let her rest," she shooed the company out of her room.

"Come on, Akamaru," Kiba motioned. His dog whined but started to comply.

"I don't usually allow pets in the hospital but in this case I could make an exception, if that's alright with you, Kiba-kun," Tsunade conceded.

"I'll come back for him tomorrow," he promised.

"Why did you ask all of them to come here?" she carefully accused Kakashi once they were alone again.

"I didn't ask anyone to come. In fact, I tried several times to get them to leave but they just wouldn't listen. They said they wouldn't leave until they were sure you were okay," he insisted.

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you…for everything," she blushed.

"Thank you. I should have listened when you told me you concerns. I dismissed you too easily because you worry so much about everything," he managed.

"How could you have known? I mean, I didn't even realize what was happening. I was going to kill myself right there in that forest." She gave a deep sigh of regret. "Please, thank Sasuke for me. He saved me from myself," she pleaded.

"I will do no such thing. That is something you will have to tell him yourself," he insisted.

She gave a confident nod and they said their goodbyes so she could rest for the night.


	11. Healing Process

Tsunade visited her again the following morning for another check up. "You're healing very well," she commented.

"I heal quickly," Calixta replied.

"Apparently. You should be good to go home tomorrow. You have so many visitors that it's causing quite a commotion," she teased.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that," she honestly replied.

"You should be glad. It's better for the healing process," she added. "What's that?" she started a little at the little bug crawling on Calixta's hand.

"Oh, this? Just a ladybug," she shrugged, smiling as it crawled up and down her fingers.

"Here, I'll get rid of it for you," she tried to swat it but Calixta stopped her.

"Oh, no! Please, don't hurt it! It's one of Shino little bugs, stowed away on the flowers they brought for me."

Tsunade gave a sigh of exasperation. "I see. Well, make sure you take it with you when you go. I can't have bugs crawling around the hospital," she playfully scolded.

Just then, there was a careful rapping on the door.

"Come in," Tsunade called and was surprised to see Inuzuka Tsume enter. "I've just finished my check up."

"Oh? And how are we doing?" the woman asked.

"Better than expected. Luckily, none of her internal organs were severely damaged," Tsunade answered.

"That's good to hear. I was worried when Kiba didn't return with Akamaru last night. Those two are practically inseparable."

With that, Tsunade left.

"You must be Kiba's mother. It's nice to meet you," Calixta carefully greeted.

"I've been meaning to make your acquaintance for some time," Tsume answered.

"Oh? I hope-" Calixta began.

"Don't worry. I'm not worried about your relationship with my son. He's a good young man and Akamaru here wouldn't let him trust someone with ill motives so easily," she assured her.

Calixta breathed a sigh of relief. "Then…to what do I owe the visit?"

"Your affinity with animals has come to my attention," she began.

Calixta laughed but allowed the woman to continue.

"My dog, Kuromaru, is expecting puppies any day now. I was wondering if you might like one of them?" she asked.

The young woman's smile grew wide. "I would love that very much! Kakashi-sensei has suggested more than once that I get a pet but I didn't want to get one while living with him, you know how pets can be, and with everything that's happened since I moved out, it sort of took a backseat," she babbled.

"I'm happy to hear that," Tsume smiled back. "Would you like to be there for the birth?"

"You said it's any day now?" Calixta verified.

"Yes. I'll understand if you're not up to it," she replied.

"I would love to. I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me!" she nearly started to cry.

"It's nothing. I'm sure you'll take good care of it. You can choose whichever one you like after they're born."

"Oh, I'm not sure I could make such a choice but I'll try," she half-joked.

"That's good to hear. I'll let you rest now," Tsume started for the door.

"Here, take Akamaru with you. I'm sure Kiba-san misses him greatly. As you said, they're hardly ever apart." She held the pup up to the mother who took him with her. "And thank him for me, if you would. He was a great comfort."

* * *

Temari had just sat down to have dinner with Kankuro when she noticed her teammate looked a little odd. "Hey, what's up?" she greeted with more enthusiasm than warranted by the situation in hopes of snapping him out of it.

The large young man almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of his sister's voice, "Ah! Wh-? Oh, hey," he managed.

"You think too hard like that for too long and your brain's gunna start leakin' out your ear," she teased.

A foolish little smile danced across his lips. If he had been thinking of anything other than what he was, he would have been offended. However, in the short time he spent with Calixta over those strange few days, he realized that she might very well be able to make his brain leak out his ears. He nodded and laughed with his sister.

"What were you makin' that serious face for anyway? If it's about what Gaara said earlier-" she tried to ease.

"Oh, no it's not that…" he dismissed, "I know not to take stuff like that too seriously anymore," he told her.

"Then what is it?" she pressed.

He knew his sister wouldn't understand but just getting it out rather than being pestered by her was preferable. "I was thinking about Calixta," he admitted, unable to suppress a slight blush.

"Oh…what about'er?" Temari grumbled.

"I dunno," he shrugged, "Just her. You got to spend more time with her than anybody. What was she like?" he asked genuinely.

"I dunno. She was really weird but all things considered, nice enough," she managed.

"She was nice? That's all you've got?" he teased.

"What do you want me to tell you? She hardly spoke to me unless she had to and most of the time, she locked herself up in her room and just stayed in there," she managed. "She's a pretty good cook," she shrugged, remembering that much of the little time they spent together was while they were eating. "You like her, don't you?" she countered.

"I don't know how I feel about her," he honestly admitted. "I want to like her because she really tried to help us even though we kidnapped her."

"But what?" Temari prompted.

"But seeing her with Gaara gave me the creeps," he almost shamefully told her.

"Look, I don't really know what happened between them but it doesn't matter. You're too good to get hung up on a girl like that. Sure, she's got looks but don't you remember how she manipulated you? I'd think that someone as tangled up in puppetry as you would have realized he was being strung around like a doll," she harshly told him.

"She only did it in self defense," he weakly argued.

"Tch, that time she did but that's not something someone can just do without practice. What about next time? She's working with another clan, her allegiances lie there," she pointed out.

"She's not like the rest of them. She didn't want to control me and having her do it wasn't a total loss. It helped her realize that we weren't going to hurt her, that we wanted her help," he explained.

"If you know so much then why are you asking me what she's like?" Temari snapped.

"I was just curious," he shrugged, finding her abrasive words less scathing than usual.

Temari was just about to snap at him again when they noticed Gaara walking past the ramen cart they were seated at. When they made eye contact, Gaara shot his teammates suspicious looks but didn't say anything.

"Where you goin' so late tonight?" Temari carefully called when she realized he wasn't even going to greet them.

"That's none of your business," Gaara hissed and kept walking.

"Was it just me or is he a little…off today?" Temari asked Kankuro.

The young man pursed his lips. "Now that you mention it, it has been a really strange day," he replied. When they were finished eating a few minutes later, he started off in the direction that Gaara had headed.

"You gunna follow him?" Temari asked.

"I thought about it," he admitted though he hadn't realized until she pointed it out that he had started off in the same direction as their teammate.

She matched his step.

"You're gunna follow me?" he defensively accused.

"If I was following you, I'd be behind you. I thought we might follow Gaara together," she dryly mused.

"Oh, right, whatever," he agreed.

They caught up with their youngest teammate just as he was leaving the outskirts of their village.

"Hey, where are you going?" Temari called after him once they were close enough.

"Are you trying to stop me?" Gaara snapped back.

"Uh, well, no. Not exactly. I just wanna know why you're leaving the village. It would be nice to know where you are if we need you," she tried with forced confidence.

"Don't follow me," he told them plainly and started walking again.

Once he was out of earshot, Kankuro spoke, "What do you think we should do?"

"I'm gunna tell Baki and let him deal with it," she answered, feeling defeated.

"I'll follow Gaara then," Kankuro added.

"What? He just told us not to and he sounded pretty serious. He'll kick your ass if he catches you," she told him.

"Then he won't catch me. I'll keep a safe distance. Besides, he looked pretty distracted," he told her and then started out.

"Fine," she agreed because she could tell there was no arguing with him and went to get their instructor.

* * *

Gaara was about half way to the Village Hidden in the Leaves when he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened and he started to look about, taking in his surroundings as though waiting for some sort of attack even though he knew there would be none. He stood there like that for nearly an hour before calling out to the one he knew had been following him, but didn't care to waste the time to confront him. "Kankuro, come out," he called.

Kankuro flinched at the sound of his own name and hesitated.

Gaara made a sound of frustration, "Now! Get out here now! I want to talk to you," he ordered harshly.

The older teen slowly emerged because he hadn't been threatened with violence.

"You weren't following me, were you?" he accused.

"What? Yeah, I was following you," he admitted.

"So you're either an idiot or a liar," Gaara sneered.

"What are you talking about?" Kankuro took a step back.

"No," Gaara corrected after a moment, "You're a liar because if you were an idiot you'd've check back with Temari and Baki who are actually following us," he grumbled.

"I told Temari that I'd follow you; that's what I'm doing," Kankuro defended.

"Then why haven't you checked in with them since you left the village?" Gaara scoffed. "You were going the same direction as me; you weren't following me," he accused. "Why? Why are you going this way?" he pointed the direction they'd been headed.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about," Kankuro lied.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Gaara decided to throw his teammate a bone in hopes of further cooperation.

"Felt it?" Kankuro blinked almost stupidly. "Felt what, exactly?" he tried.

"Something was calling you or pulling you this way," he pointed again.

"Now that you mention it, it was kinda like that," the larger teen admitted. "I thought it was my imagination. You felt it too?"

"You don't know what it was?" Gaara pressed.

"I-I don't know. I wanted to find out," he replied.

Gaara snickered. "Don't bother. Turn back now and make the others go back as well," he ordered.

"What? You know what it is?"

"If you continue to go this way, I will bury you in sand," the shorter teen threatened and then was gone.

Gaara himself had realized he was being influenced by an external force even as he left the village but he hadn't realized it was Calixta's chakra until it had suddenly, almost violently, stopped. It stopped him dead in his tracks and he was left with a ringing silence in his ears that made him sick to his stomach and faded into a dark warmth. As angry as he was that she could do that to him, after all that, he had to know what happened. Because whatever it was had caused a protective air to well up in him, he dismissed his companion as best he could. He knew they would continue to follow him but he hoped his warning would buy him a little extra time.

* * *

Gaara arrived in the Leaf village very early the following morning and immediately started looking for Calixta. After feeling her chakra so intensely for so long, now he could barely sense it. However, it still didn't take him very long to find out that she was in the hospital, sneak in, and get at least a look at her.

To his surprise, she was awake so he just walked in. Had she been sleeping, he might have considered knocking.

"Isn't it a bit early to be drinking?" he chided as he entered and saw that she had the hand not being used to drip fluids into her system, lazily wrapped around the neck of a sake bottle.

"Gaara-san?" she greeted with a smile.

"Don't play coy with me," he snapped as he stepped up to the foot of her bed.

She quirked an odd look for a moment before giving a sad little sigh. "A late comer," she mused. "But I'm not calling out any more. Why are you here?"

"I want to know why you drew me here!" he nearly yelled.

It took her a long moment to answer him. When she did answer him, she explained as carefully as she could what had happened over the last few days, making sure to emphasize that he was not the only one that had been affected so that he wouldn't think he was being targeted. She did, however, leave out the part of trying to kill herself because she wasn't sure how he would react to the notion.

"So it's not going to happen again, right?" he surmised rudely.

"I'd like to promise you that but it's not something I can do," she informed.

"That's not good enough," he snapped.

"I can say that it's much less likely to happen again anytime soon because of how…intensely problematic it was," she had to pause to make sure she chose her words well.

"Fine, if that's the best you can do, I guess I'll have to take it," he sneered.

"But all that was over for some time now. Why did you come the rest of the way?" she pressed.

Gaara rolled his eyes and quickly walked over to her bedside. She was lethargic that it was easy for him to snatch the bottle of alcohol from her hand. "What kind of idiot doctor would give a patient sake while they're in the hospital?" he quietly demanded.

"It helps with the pain," she told him evenly.

He gave her an odd sideways glance and examined her IV.

"Stop messing with things! You don't know what you're doing," she accused even though he wasn't even really touching anything.

"You already have something for the pain," he pointed to one of the drugs listed on her IV bag.

"Look, I haven't slept very well lately. I was just having a couple sips to knock me out," she reasoned defensively before giving in to a little smile. "You can have some if you want. There's more than enough there," she offered.

He gave her a curious look as he put the bottle to his lips. He had been hoping that she wasn't just trying to bribe him, that perhaps it wasn't simply a bottle of alcohol. His hopes were left wanting and it made a bitter little scowl play across his lips. "It's not even very good," he rudely remarked.

"I'm sorry you came here…like this," she added quietly. Actually, she liked seeing him again so soon but she wished it was under different circumstances. "If you're not going to drink that, I'd like it back," she told him as playfully as she could, motioning to the bottle.

Now that he was within arm's reach of her, he could feel some of her emotions as he had about a week before in his own village. As uncomfortable as that made him, he felt it gave him an advantage in their conversation that he wouldn't have talking to anyone else. "Where were you hurt?" he asked suddenly, setting the bottle on the table a few feet from the bed and out of her immediate reach.

She carefully pulled away part of her blanket and lifted the right side of hospital gown, not thinking about how immodest he might find the sudden exposure of so much of her skin. Then, she carefully pulled aside the long bandage on her side.

Upon close examination, Gaara had a slightly disturbing revelation. He himself had only been injured on rare occasions, like his fight with Naruto. However, there was one kind of wound that he was familiar with, the self inflicted kind. It didn't look exactly like that but it was close enough to make him worry. "You said it was a kunai?" he verified.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Who's hand was on the handle when it happened?" he pressed.

"Sasuke and I were fighting over it at the time," she managed.

"You already told me that. I'm asking who was actually touching it when you were injured," he elaborated curtly. To his surprise, she stopped to think about it before answering him.

She had it. Then, he had gotten it away from her but she managed to get it back into her hand before it sank into her skin. "I-I was," she told him after a moment.

Gaara leveled his gaze on her for a moment to take her in. He could tell she wasn't lying to him. "I thought you didn't wish for death anymore," he commented but had to turn his back to her to do it. Even then, he could feel her glaring at his back.

Because he wouldn't even look at her anymore, she pulled her gown back down and carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed. Then, using the IV-stand for balance, she made her way over to the table where she sat down and started drinking again. "I thought so too," she replied after her first sip.

"You know that shit makes your blood thin, right? That you're not going to heal as quickly if your blood can't clot," he grumbled.

"Don't care," she grumbled. "Look if you're just here to give me shit about not taking better care of myself, don't bother. I may be self-destructive but I'm not an idiot. Besides, the only reason you give a damn is because you're still bothered by why you came here," she snapped.

"Of course it _bothers_ me," he hissed. "You shouldn't be able to do that…to anybody, least of all me. I can understand that idiot Kankuro getting all hung up on you but to me, you're just a fuckin' milk tank."

That made her laugh loudly, almost obnoxiously because she was really starting to feel the sake she'd been nursing take effect. "If you say so. Speaking of which, I'm feeling a bit heavy. Would you mind?" she lifted one of her breasts and dropped it for effect. Normally, if she was that swollen and she did something like that, it would have at least caused her to wince with discomfort, which made her realize that the painkillers in her IV were most likely working their magic on her nerves.

"Don't tempt me. You're not up for it," he taunted.

She giggled. "I'm so numb right now I doubt you could hurt me."

"Tch, then it wouldn't be worth it," he told her with a dark grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

She took a moment to examine him, now that she could see his face again. He probably would have been able to tell what she was doing anyway but the fact that she was intoxicated, hopped up on painkillers, and exhausted made her sloppy.

Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously and he swiftly stepped behind where she was seated. He felt her start slightly when his fingertips brushed across her cheek on their way to her throat. "Tell me, what do you sense from me?" he asked in a hushed but still somewhat threatening voice.

"That's a silly question. You know how you feel, don't you? Why do you need me to tell you? That's something that people in denial do," she told him. Once his hand settled, her momentary flash of anxiety had dissipated, even if it wasn't in the most reassuring place, just beneath her jaw where the tips of his fingers could still tease her windpipe.

"Why don't you fear me?" he asked suddenly, sounding genuinely curious rather than annoyed or angry.

"Should I?" she almost laughed.

"I could kill you right here like this," he mused, shifting his fingers just a bit so that she could feel his fingernails.

"You could have killed me from across the room with just as little effort," she replied. "The point is that either I know you're not going to do such a rash thing or I don't care even if you do."

"You think could still stop me if I tried," he added to the list.

"No…not like this. Perhaps last time but then again, that time you came out and told me that you didn't hate me, as much as you would have liked to. Has that feeling changed? No, it hasn't," she answered for him, finally reaching her own hand up to touch his. "Which means you're touching me just for the fun of it," she mused, taking his hand in hers and raising it further to press against her lips. When her lips met his palm, she could feel the difference in his skin, he wasn't wearing his sand armor.

Gaara couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up his arm, then up and down his spine. It gave him goosebumps and he jerked his hand away only to hesitate for a second before leaning down to kiss her. He couldn't help smirking slightly as she kissed back lazily, almost sloppily due to the strange angle and her intoxication.

To his surprise, she was the one to break their kiss a few intense moments later. She gave a slight gasp and he marveled at the way she tried to focus her vision on him. She did, eventually, but only with the help of a slight squint.

He only gave her a few seconds of eye contact before suddenly pulling her chair away from the little table and moving around to face her. Placing his hands on the ends of arm rests, he leaned over and eyed her critically.

"What's that look for?" she giggled, tapping the end of his nose with her index finger.

"You're really messed up," he told her evenly.

"Normally, I'd slap somebody for saying something like that but coming from you, it sounds kinda cute," she teased.

"Not like that," he rolled his eyes. "I mean like…you're shit-faced," he told her.

"Is that your professional opinion, doctor?" she playfully taunted.

"It's messing with your chakra," he informed.

"I take it back. You're not a doctor, you're just captain obvious," she continued.

"You can still feel what I feel, right?" he ignored her taunt in favor of interrogating her.

"Yeah, mostly, why?" she blinked curiously.

Gaara's smirk grew. "I have to think about it to sense what you feel even when you're trying," he informed.

She thought for a long moment about what he was saying, longer than she should have because her thoughts were something of a jumble at the moment. "'Kay…so?" she quirked an eyebrow.

He had just parted his lips to speak when she cupped her hand over his mouth.

"Sh!" Her eyes grew wide and darted from side to side. She received an incredulous look and he almost spoke again before she interrupted him. "They come once an hour on regular rounds. If they catch you here, they'll kick you out, maybe call the authorities," she told him.

A split second later, he was gone and the door knob was turning. She gave the nurse a bemused look when she entered, obviously surprised to find the young woman not only awake but away from her bed.

"What are you doing out of bed?" the nurse fretted.

"Tsunade-sama left it behind after my check up," she pointed to the sake on the table.

"You mustn't to that!" she rushed over and scooped up the young woman, plopping her down in her bed and tightly tucking her in. "I will speak with Lady Tsunade tomorrow about her lackadaisical mistake," she remembered that the new leader and head healer had been looking for such a bottle before she left for the evening. "As for you, I'll forgo the safety restraints this time but if you do something like that again, I won't hesitate to use them." The young woman didn't appear as convinced as she thought she should so she added, "And I'll take the painkillers out of your IV."

"That's cruel, isn't it? You're supposed to keep me comfortable," she pointed out.

"They're for your comfort but they're not necessary. The rest of your medicines can be given without them," the nurse informed.

"Fine, whatever. I only drank it 'cause it was here and I was havin' trouble sleepin'," she covered.

The nurse didn't reply to that. She simply took the open bottle with her when she left.

When Calixta couldn't hear the older woman's steps anymore, she quietly called out, "She's gone…for now."

Gaara was standing on the ledge outside her window. He almost went back inside but stopped himself short. He could sense that she was incredibly fatigued and that any further badgering from him might actually do her further harm, so he just left. That didn't stop him from returning the following night.

However, he met up with his instructor and two teammates that afternoon and was forced to spend the rest of the day with them, which wasn't all bad because after a quick stop at Kakashi's home, they went to visit Calixta in the hospital. He wondered if she would rat him out for his visit the night before.

Kakashi entered first with a nurse, "Calixta, there are some people here to see you," he said carefully as he slipped inside.

"Who is it?" she perked up a bit.

The sensei hesitated a moment before answering.

"Then let them in? Unless you want to leave them waiting for a reason," she teased.

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

"The sooner I see them, the sooner they can leave. I know how their presence unnerves you."

"If you say so," he shrugged and let them in.

She greeted them with a smile and briefly explained what happened, promising not to allow it to happen again. Her promise made Gaara give her a dark look because she would not give him the same word during the dark hours of the morning. He knew that this time, she was lying to make Baki and the others feel better. Not only that but she was giving him the chance to correct her and reveal his secret visit himself.

The rest of their visit was non-eventful and because the elders of the Leaf wanted to meet with Baki and his students, they stayed that night.

After the firm scolding from the early morning nurse, Tsunade left her sake in her office while she made her rounds the following day and ended up chiding Calixta for getting caught more than drinking in the hospital. However, that just meant that Gaara had to find his own bottle of sake to tempt her with which, he quickly found out, was much easier in this village than it would have been at his.

He waited until the nurse came and left before hopping in her open window.

"Gaara-san," she greeted with a smile, "I thought I wouldn't get to see you again before you left."

"I brought you a present," he pulled the bottle out from behind his back.

"Thank you but I probably shouldn't. I don't know if you heard that nurse after you left but I'm gunna get in big trouble if I get caught with another bottle of sake," she sadly joked.

"Aw, come on. I went through a lot of trouble to get this for you and when they come to check on you, I'll just take it with me when I hide," he coaxed.

"Fine, but just a little and you have to have some with me," she agreed with an impish grin.

He nodded and sat down next to her on the hospital bed. "They emptied ya from last night," he commented nudging her breast with his elbow.

"Well yeah, it starts to hurt if I wait too long," she laughed.

He took the first sip of sake as he uncorked the bottle as a sign of his good will. "I bet they get huge!" he teased, making exaggerated hand motions as he handed over the bottle.

She giggled, "Not quite that bad. I do have my limits."

"How long can you go before the milk has to come out?" he asked curiously.

"I like to wait six hours at the most. Though, sometimes I wait eight or nine if I sleep in," she answered.

He nodded and they drank until she warned him of the nurse's approach. He waited until the last second and then scooped her up, planted her in the chair and set the open bottle on the table. Then, he was gone.

She was so stunned that she didn't hear the door open.

"Calixta!" the nurse scolded. "I warned you about this!"

"But, I didn't-" she stammered but to no effect.

"Don't argue with me. I don't want to hear your excuses. I can smell it on you from here!" The angry nurse put her back into her bed and instead of tucking her in, she pulled the restraints around from the bottom and fastened the young woman to the bed.

"I really-ugh, please, don't do this! It's not what it looks like," she pleaded.

"Don't fight me young lady! This is for your own good!" The nurse finished the restraints and changed her IV. "This will be a tough lesson for you, I'm sure, but you need it." Before she left, she set the call button in the young woman's hand, just in case.

As soon as the angry woman was gone, Gaara appeared at the foot of her bed.

"Why? Why would you do that?" she demanded fitfully.

"Oh, come now, don't tell me you didn't sense that I was up to something," he taunted.

She had sensed his mischief but chocked it up to helping her bend the rules rather than a venture to get her into trouble. "I-I did…I just didn't think you would…"

"Set you up?" he snickered as he crawled up the bed and subsequently her body, slipping the call button from her hand and setting it out of her reach. "What are you going to do about it?" he taunted.

She gave him the meanest look he'd ever seen her give to anyone.

"You're actually angry with me," he marveled, only allowing himself to feel her negative emotions after seeing the dirty look.

Calixta sneered and turned away.

Gaara snickered again as he pulled her blankets down. "Aren't you even going to try?" he continued taunting her.

"No. What's the point?" she replied curtly. As he pointed out during his last private visit to her, while she was under chemical influence, her influence over others was significantly diminished. It was better to wait, recover her sense as quickly as she could, and come at him when she actually had a chance. She wasn't about to struggle uselessly just because it amused him.

Even with this conviction in mind, she couldn't help the slight gasp she gave when one of his hands slipped behind her to untie her gown. He didn't hesitate to pull it down and expose her breasts. She gasped again and he took the opportunity to feel the ambient chakra of the hospital room, knowing that because she was having difficulty focusing her chakra, it would be a good way to see how she was feeling without reaching out to her with his own energy.

"But this doesn't make you angry?" he half-teased while lightly pinching one of her swollen nipples.

She whimpered and squirmed under him but when he laughed at her again, she drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, allowing much of her tension to dissipate, much to his dismay. Annoyed by her passive defiance, he pinched her a little harder than he originally intended. When he saw that she was about to yelp, he cupped his other hand over her mouth.

"Not a single sound out of you," he quickly wove a sign that would seal her lips.

Out of anger, Calixta screwed her eyes shut, denying any sort of benefit that eye contact might give him. Unfortunately, the bed was already spinning, so to speak, and to anchor herself a little better, she had to open her eyes for the benefit of visual landmarks. She looked down at him with pleading eyes and started trembling.

He gave a sigh of exasperation and rolled his eyes, releasing the chakra holding her mouth shut. "What is it?"

"Please don't hurt me…" she pleaded seriously.

"I can't promise that, but it wasn't my intention," he chidingly replied as he took her hand, lacing their fingers together and allowing her to squeeze his hand. Then, he shot a nervous look at the door. "I'll be back after your next check-in," he told her as he pulled her gown back up. He didn't bother to tie it, simply tucking the strings behind her because they would be covered by her blanket anyway.

However, when he went to pull his hand away, she didn't let go. His empathetic gesture seemed to have backfired.

"Let go!" he hissed. "Or I'll break your fingers," he threatened.

"Don't hurt me. Promise not to and I'll let you go," she bargained quietly.

"And if I do?" he countered.

"Then I'm not responsible for what happens after that, not even a little bit," she told him.

"Fine, deal," he hastily agreed and got out just in the nick of time.

Upon feeling his weight suddenly gone from above her, Calixta closed her eyes and steadied her breath.

"How are you feeling, dear?" the nurse asked upon entering.

"Tired, but good. Thank you," she meekly replied.

"Oh, don't start with that. I've heard it all before."

"No, really. I mean it. I understand if you don't believe me but I had to say it. Though, I think I should tell you that I am stronger than I appear," she told her flatly.

"Then I'll make a deal with you," she leveled a serious stare at the young woman on her back, "You exercise your self control and stay put, and I won't tell your sensei about all this nonsense," she bargained.

"Really?"

"Yeah, prove to me that you can do that little thing for me and I'll make sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't hear of this," she repeated.

"Make that a promise, swear on it and I'll agree. Otherwise, don't toy with me," Calixta further bargained.

"Yeah, sure, geeze, you're serious all of a sudden. But, yeah, okay. It's a deal." Then, she gave the young woman one last visual sweep before leaving her to sleep. That was when she noticed the call button was out of her reach. "Oh, dear, you must be more careful. Here," she taped it into the young woman's hand.

"Thank you," Calixta managed. "If I'm asleep when you come back, would you mind keeping the check up to a minimum. I'm not sure how soundly I'll be able to sleep but I need the rest."

"I'll do what's necessary," the nurse curtly replied.

Calixta nodded and closed her eyes, centering herself for the few moments between when the nurse left her beside and when Gaara was a top her once again. "There's the game. You still wanna play?" she snapped.

He studied her for a long moment before replying. "Okay, on one condition. You have to give warning if I start to hurt you," he countered.

"Fair enough but if you don't back off, Nurse Testy will be in here before you can blink," she warned him.

"Now, where was I?" he pulled down her blanket and gown again, where he started toying with her nipples again, this time more gently.

She gave a heated gasp. "Kiss me, please," she quietly pleaded.

He complied because it muffled her little whimpers of pleasure. He only pulled away when his fingers started to feel wet. Then, he placed his first two fingers of his left hand at her lips while his mouth went to her left nipple.

She did manage to keep her voice down but only by biting her bottom lip. Afraid that she might bruise herself, he used his fingers to coax her lip from between her teeth, letting her nibble on those instead, something that he found oddly enjoyable.

When he got her going to the point where a light squeeze produced a fair shot of milk, he spoke to her again. "If this stuff heals so well, why don't you drink it yourself?" he pried with genuine curiosity before trying to squirt her in the face.

She made a sound of frustration. "It doesn't work for me," she admitted. "My body heals itself fairly well, or so I'm told, but it does nothing more than take up space in my belly if I drink it," she told him.

"Did you see any scorpions while you were in our region?" he asked suddenly and so that she might take him seriously went back to lapping at her breast, reveling in how teasing her nipple with his tongue sometimes caused fitful little spurts.

"Wh-…?" she thought for a moment, "Yeah, Temari showed me a little one so that I would know what to look for," she replied.

"Did you know that they're immune to their own poison? Because of their body shape, it's possible they might sting themselves, so it's like a failsafe against accidental suicide."

"So?" she wiggled a little, hoping for a little more physical contact because that was one of the few thing she enjoyed more than his strange pillow talk.

He didn't reply, simply switched from one breast to the other.

"Hey, you didn't finish the first one," she complained.

"So what?" he shrugged. "Does it hurt you if I don't finish it right away?" he taunted.

She faltered at that. "No, I suppose not," she agreed.

With that, he went back to what he was doing. All this took nearly an hour and he was just about finished with that breast when he realized his time was running out. So, instead of finishing, he covered her up. During this, she didn't bother to speak, opting instead to focus her slowly coalescing concentration on evening out her breath so that she might feign sleep when the nurse returned. It worked but only because Gaara didn't wait until the last possible second to step out onto the ledge.

Gaara was just about to hop back into her room on the second floor when suddenly there was a voice beside him.

"Yo," Naruto greeted in a playful but still accusatory tone.

"You," the sand ninja hissed.

"Visiting Calixta?" the blonde rudely surmised.

"What business is it of yours?" Gaara snapped, taking of a defensive posture.

"Since you got into town this afternoon, Kakashi-sensei asked me to keep an eye on her," Naruto replied seriously.

"You intend to interfere," the smaller ninja flatly surmised. "I won't let you interfere," he added evenly. "More importantly, tell me, does she know you're 'keeping an eye on her,'?" he questioned seriously but with a wild look dancing in his eyes.

"What's it to you? I caught you creepin' up to her window," he accused. "If you leave now, I won't tell anybody you were here."

"I do not have much time," and he knew that if Naruto even looked in the window at Calixta, he wouldn't be able to spend any more time with her while she was incapacitated. "And I won't let you drive me away."

Naruto gave the strange young man an odd look, surprised that although the sand ninja's tone was harsh, he received no violent death threats, which commonly spouted from him as easily as most people say, 'Hello, good day.' "You really like her, don't you?" he asked seriously.

"My preferences are no concern of yours," he snapped, wondering if the young woman inside could hear them.

"Well, I was just thinkin', you're like the toughest guy I know," Naruto teasingly complimented.

"What are you babbling about?" Gaara glared.

"Just that, if you really liked her that means you'd probably go out of your way to make sure she was safe…especially at a time like this," the blonde ninja reasoned.

"Is there a point to this or are you just wasting time?"

"I think she really cares about you," the young leaf ninja continued.

"You're just wasting time," Gaara spat. "You're worse than my idiot brother," he added because he knew he couldn't just intimidate the blonde into leaving him be.

"Lemme go talk to her first, make sure she wants to see you. I'm sure she will, so it'll only take a minute," he bargained.

"That is unacceptable. I won't have you dictate to me," the smaller teen snapped defensively.

"Look, I don't wanna stop you. If she wasn't in the hospital, I wouldn't have bothered you about it but my sensei told me to look out for her because you were in town. I won't look very good if I just let you traipse into her hospital room in the middle of the night," Naruto teased with a slight wink.

Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to stop the most friendly enemy he ever had without a fight, he gave in. "Fine," he looked around for anyone else that might be observing them and, finding none, stepped to the side. "Don't take all day and when she tells you she wants to see me, don't waste your time trying to talk her out of it. As I mentioned earlier, time is something of a quickly diminishing reserve for me. Baki intends to leave when the sun comes up and I am expected to go with them."

Naruto nodded and hopped inside. Much to Gaara's dismay, he shut the window behind him and pulled the blinds, so the disgruntled sand ninja perched himself in a tree on the nearby lawn. He was furious and incredibly sexually frustrated. He had fully intended to penetrate her almost as soon as he joined her again. This left him to deal with Naruto interfering in that plan while also dealing with an almost painful erection. As he sat, looking up at her window, he begrudgingly came to terms with the fact that he was not going to be satisfied.

Calixta didn't open her eyes when she heard the footsteps entering her window. "Gaara-san?" she called again.

"Sorry, no. It's just me," Naruto giggled.

"Naruto!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

The nearly panicked tone in her voice startled him. "I saw Gaara about to sneak in and I thought I'd make sure you wanted to see him first," he told her as he approached. Before she could reply, he noticed her restraints, "What's this? Has he already been in here?" he started to undo the straps.

"No! Naruto, stop! Don't do that!" she pulled away the small, ineffectual distance she could.

"What? Why not?" he didn't stop.

"Gaara didn't do this!" she half-lied.

He had just finished freeing her kicking ankles when the nurse, drawn by the sound of Calixta shouting, came barging in.

"What is the meaning of this? Some patients are trying to sleep around here you know!" she scolded. "Naruto? What are you doing?"

"Who did this?" he motioned to the straps as he unsinched the strap across Calixta's hips. "Some caretaker you are letting her get all tied down like this!" he scolded.

"Young man, I tied her down!" the nurse snapped.

"What's the matter with you?" Naruto nearly yelled.

"Miss Calixta wouldn't stay in her bed," the nurse replied. "If she doesn't stop getting up, she won't heal."

"I'll stay with her then, for the rest of the night. You can unstrap her and I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere," he vowed seriously.

The nurse gave an impressed nod at the rambunctious teen's mature response. "Alright, but if you leave her side for even a second, you're in twice as much trouble as she is."

"Naruto, please. This is embarrassing enough as it is. Please, don't make me do this in front of you," Calixta suddenly pleaded.

With a thoughtful frown, the nurse made a few quick checks and unfastened the straps restraining her patient. Then, she checked the clock on the wall. "I'll be back in an hour," she told them and exited, only refraining from slamming the door because of how late it was.

"Sweet," Naruto smiled victoriously, thinking that even if she did want to see Gaara, he shouldn't make too much trouble in an hour. "So you knew Gaara was outside?" he questioned.

"He wasn't exactly trying to hide from me," she dryly mused.

"Then why were you being so stubborn?" the blonde pressed, his hand idly toying with one of the loose straps as he stood at her bedside.

"He's expecting me to be restrained. I'm not sure how he'll react if that situation changes," she told him.

"Why do you care so much about his expectations?" he asked seriously.

"He's still angry about what happened. And because he won't even think to hurt me if I'm helpless," she informed.

"That's crazy!" he almost slapped her.

"That's his way," she replied wistfully. Then, after a long moment of thought, she smiled. "Make it look like I'm still restrained. That way he can have what he expects and I'll still be able to move if I have to," she proposed.

"I get to stay while he's here," Naruto told her as he examined how best to make it appear she was still strapped to the bed without actually restraining her.

"I knew you'd say that and out of respect, I won't try to ask you to leave. I can't make any promises for Gaara-san though. He may debate your vigilance," she half-joked.

Once she was set, Naruto opened the window. He was about to call out when the other young ninja appeared before him.

"I told you I don't have time to waste," Gaara snapped.

"You have most of an hour," Naruto corrected sitting down at the little table.

"You're staying?" the shorter teen incredulously hissed.

"Yeah, of course," Naruto scoffed. "I'm not an idiot."

"Yes you are but now you're an inconsiderate idiot," Gaara growled as he approached her bedside.

Naruto didn't reply to the taunt. He was too busy watching to see if Gaara would notice her straps weren't secure.

"Naruto, you know why I'm here," he commented evenly, reaching up to run the back of his hand along her flushed cheek. He might have noticed the fraud if he hadn't been marveling at the way she turned ever so slightly to lean into his touch.

"You never said," the blonde replied, "but I can guess."

"Then maybe you're not inconsiderate. Maybe you're just a little pervert," Gaara continued to taunt.

"You're the freak who wants to do that kind of thing to her while she's all tied down," Naruto snapped defensively.

Calixta couldn' help giggling a little at their exchange, that is, until she felt the hand at her cheek twitch with irritation.

"He's not funny," Gaara told her matter-of-factly. Then, he took a minute to study her, take her in one more time before taking action. Her strength was coming back and fast. However, she still seemed content to submit to his will, something that pleased him greatly and he showed it with an almost maniacal grin.

Watching her squirm under his gaze made Naruto intensely uncomfortable. "What do you see in him anyway?" he snapped.

To her surprise, Gaara looked down at her expectantly. She slowly licked her lips to stall her reply while she got a feel for the other two in the room. She knew it would only be a brief, chaotic impression but it was better than nothing, which was pretty close to what she had. After the look she just received from Gaara, she wasn't surprised to find that he wanted her to answer. From Naruto, however, she was only able to discern general feelings of anxiety and irritation.

"Gaara-sama is very sexy," she replied with a lecherous smirk that made sparks run up and down the young sand ninja's spine. A split second later he was on top of her again, straddling her body on his hands and knees.

Naruto's eyes grew wide with a mix of incredulity and horror, "Y-You're encouraging him?"

Gaara tore his gaze from the young woman beneath him to narrow his eyes at the young man still seated across the room. "What did you think she was doing?" he scoffed.

"Humoring you? Placating you so that you don't cause any more damage than absolutely necessary?" Naruto replied.

"Naruto!" Calixta scolded, "I thought you knew me better than that. I don't take other people so lightly."

"I thought you were at least a little sane," the blonde retorted.

"You think she's crazy too?" Gaara suddenly interrupted with an odd tone of genuine curiosity.

"What? No! She's not crazy," he defensively replied, "You're not crazy," he hastily added so it wouldn't sound like they were talking about her like she wasn't there as Gaara seemed to like doing. "I just don't understand, I guess," he managed.

Calixta was about to reply but the young man on top of her spoke first, "I think he's just jealous," Gaara scoffed.

"Jealous? Me?" Naurto actually laughed. "I already know she thinks I'm sexy," he bragged.

The young sand ninja rolled his eyes with obvious disbelief. "Yeah, whatever," the dark-haired teen muttered distractedly.

Annoyed that his peer didn't believe him, Naruto stood and approached the bed. "I'll prove it," he announced.

Before Calixta could even think to stop him, Naurto disappeared into a puff of smoke before reappearing as a naked young female. She made a sound of incredible frustration but squirmed nonetheless.

Gaara stared for a moment in shock. "What the hell?" he managed.

"See?" Naruto giggled and pointed to Calixta's dripping nose.

Upon seeing the young woman's blood, something in Gaara snapped. He ran his thumb over her upper lip, smearing some of the blood onto it. "You made her bleed," he remarked darkly holding the digit up in his face. "You think I'm the monster here and you're some retarded little knight in shining armor but look at this! Look! You made her bleed!" he growled.

"Whoah! Chill out!" he eased, grabbing a couple tissues from the bedside stand, "It's just a silly pervert nosebleed."

"I know what it is, you idiot! It doesn't change anything!" Gaara was completely prepared to continue verbally berating the other young man but Calixta caught his attention.

"Naruto, please, don't…" she reached a hand up to push him away, not thinking about how it would reveal that she was no longer restrained.

"What's this?" Gaara mused as he took her wrist to examine the fraud. Her wrist was still secure in the buckle on that end but the line that had been attached to had been loosened, making it significantly easier for her to pull free.

With their deception revealed, Calixta didn't hesitate. Naruto may have been the one causing the tingling little snapping she felt along her brainstem but Gaara was the one touching her. She wrapped her legs and other arm around him, pulling his body flush with hers in a small burst of physical strength.

"Gaara, please, take me now. You said yourself we don't have much time," she pleaded, burying her face in the side of his neck.

"In front of this…person?" Gaara demanded incredulously, still processing the sudden shift of power. Actually, he found himself almost more pleased that she had chosen to remain restrained as a show of her submission than he was by her willingness to submit to him in the first place. He could feel now that much of the reason she had decided to grab him so suddenly like that was so he wouldn't just leave.

"I have a name ya know," Naruto interjected as he changed back to his normal self.

As Gaara pulled away from the woman beneath him, he couldn't help marveling at the little sound of intense disappointment she made as she looked up at him. Even more so when their eyes met and realized there was a challenging look in her eyes. However, his reason for pulling away had not been to torment or test her; it was much more practical than that. He wanted to see what time it was. "Fuck…" he grumbled and turned to Naurto, "Time's almost up, isn't it?"

The blonde glanced at the clock. "You got about another ten minutes before the nurse comes back," he under estimated the time just to play it safe.

"Let him come back again," Calixta suddenly requested.

"What?" the young leaf ninja blinked incredulously.

"Please," she grasped at the strong arms of the young man above her, "Please come back."

"Yeah, okay," Gaara nodded, barely holding back his smile as he leaned down and kissed her forehead before disappearing.

Naruto rushed over to help her get the rest of the way out of the straps before the nurse returned. "I don't get it. You're usually so strong. Why are you being so submissive to him?" he demanded.

"It's complicated," she managed but it was apparent he wanted a better answer than that. "You might not have realized this but he's the first person to make an intimate advance toward me since I got to the hospital," she pointed out, straightening her sheets. "Sit down. If you stand over me like that she's gunna think something's wrong," she advised.

Naruto nodded dumbly and complied. "Kakashi-sensei mentioned once that you sort of need to…be intimate," he managed, "with other people fairly often."

"Yeah," she barely replied, keeping her eyes on the door.

"I can go get someone else for you, like Ebisu, he's really nice and he really likes you," he tried.

"He could have crept into my window just as easily as you did," she commented.

"But he's a good guy and good guys don't just do that kind of thing," Naruto replied.

"Even if that's what needs to be done?" she countered.

"I'm sure you could have asked someone to come…uh…take care of you?" he tried.

"That's dumb. Why would I do that?"

"Look, I know you really like Gaara, but he's…temperamental, unpredictable. I wouldn't worry about it except you got injured bad enough to still be in the hospital."

She laughed a little. "Oh, I understand his temperament. He's fascinated by me because I don't fear him." Before she could elaborate on that, the nurse entered. She was disappointed that Calixta was still awake but she appeared to be in good spirits so she let it go, changing her IV, and letting them be a moment later.

"You don't what? Even his own brother and sister are scared of him!" Naruto scoffed.

"If you really want, I can try to explain it later. For now, get his ass back in here," she ordered.

To his surprise, Gaara wasn't waiting right outside the window. He went back to the tree because he was so disturbed at being caught by Naruto and didn't want any other visitors. Naruto motioned and he came flying in the window. He didn't hesitate in jumping on her bed again.

She gasped at the sudden physical contact but didn't waste time in pulling at his clothes. "I'll be quiet this time, I promise," she vowed.

"You better," Gaara teased back.

Naruto blushed furiously and turned his back to the pair so he could look out the open window instead. He couldn't believe what he was doing but he knew that, especially at this point, stopping what had already been set in motion would cause more ruckus now than just letting them go.

It's not like he didn't try to dissuade Calixta or at least make sure she was sure about what she wanted. She was stubborn that there was no arguing with her. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that she was nearly naked and he was well on his way to joining her.

Even Calixta was surprised that Gaara had opted to strip almost completely for their encounter, leaving his shorts and underwear tangled around his ankles because by that time, he was past the point of caring. She guided his hands up her legs until they were beneath her knees.

"Please, take it easy on me, at least at first…if I pop a stitch, Naruto will get in trouble," she half-joked.

The blonde's stomach sank uncomfortably at the likelihood of such an event.

Gaara gave a silent nod and hitched one of her knees over his shoulder so that hand could cradle the small of her back. Her entire body shuddered as he slowly entered her but, to her credit, she let slip hardly a whimper.

She clawed at his legs and arms, any part of him that she could reach, as part of her effort to contain her verbal appreciations, leaving harsh red streaks on his fair bare skin. Before long, she was biting her bottom lip again.

"Quit that or you'll bite through your lip," Gaara playfully scolded.

She made a little sound of frustration and kicked a little but released her swollen lip from between her strong white teeth. With her mouth now open, Naruto could really hear her shallow gasps of pleasure. Neither of the individuals on the bed noticed when the blonde ninja moved a little further away to sit on the windowsill facing out over the village.

Gaara's pace was rather slow, much slower than he had intended to start with when the night began, but he enjoyed the way her eyes would roll as he took her slowly, methodically. Though, when she started to really squirm, he had to stop for a moment. "Are you in pain?" he asked evenly.

Naruto flinched on the windowsill and even held his breath so that he could better hear her answer.

"No, not at all," she gasped, shaking her head from side to side.

Her enthusiasm made Gaara second guess her judgment and he set down her leg to check under her bandage. As soon as he saw that she was significantly more healed than the last time he checked, almost to the point where she didn't need the stitches anymore. After smoothing the bandage back into place, his hand darted downward to suddenly tickle her clit.

Calixta almost screamed, giving Gaara the opportunity to lean forward and cover her mouth with his own. She tried to hold onto him as best she could but their new position left her with even less leverage than their last. Having let go of her right leg, most likely because her injury was on the right side of her stomach, he doubled her over with her left. The hand that had been on the small of her back moved to the back of her neck as he guided her face to the chook of his shoulder when their kiss broke.

She immediately started kissing and nibbling on his neck and shoulder, not thinking about whether or not she left any marks on him. Once Gaara could feel this abandon in her, he started to thrust a bit harder. As he hoped, she bit him, hard on his left shoulder. Gaara gave a low growl of pleasure and kept it up as long as he could. When he did finally give in a few minutes later, he had to bury his face in her pillow to keep his own sounds of pleasure in check.

He came almost violently inside her and then they stopped almost suddenly to listen, trying to listen to anyone who might have heard them but finding it difficult to hear anything over the sound of their own racing hearts and gasping breaths. After a long moment of silence, the pair on the bed started to giggle quietly.

When the idiotic laughter didn't quickly subside, Naruto turned around, "What's so funny?" he asked with morbid curiosity but before either of them could answer, he noticed something, "Gaara…you're bleeding!" he barely managed not to shout.

The strange little sand ninja gave a giddy grin and looked over his shoulder, disappointed that he couldn't see it for himself. "Really?"

Naruto wasn't surprised that the information pleased Gaara but it still disturbed him. With a groan of frustration, he hopped out of the window and snatched a box of bandages from the cabinet on the wall. "Put your pants back on," he grumbled.

Gaara snickered but complied. As Naruto dabbed some of the blood off the other young ninja's back and shoulders, he couldn't help staring down at the spent woman still lying naked on the hospital bed. The best part was, she was smiling right back at him.

With a slight smirk, the sand ninja reached up and gave one of her breasts a little squeeze, giggling foolishly when a few little spurts of milk came out.

"Please, drink some. It'll help with the damage I caused you," she pleaded gently.

"No way," he resolutely replied. "I want these scars."

"Good," Naruto interrupted. "'Cause you're time's up. You gotta scram."

Gaara gave a regretful nod and helped Calixta get covered again before dressing himself. By the time he was ready to go, she was sound asleep. "Naruto," he called back quietly just before stepping out the window.

"What?" he snapped.

"You really care for Calixta-san, don't you?" he asked seriously.

"Tch, duh! What a stupid question," Naruto scoffed.

"What is she to you?"

"What's with all the weird questions?" the blonde dodged.

"Is she just your teammate? Is she your friend? Do you love her?" Gaara listed.

"She's my teammate and my friend," he confidently answered.

"But you don't love her," the smaller teen verified.

"Well, there's a lot of different kinds of love but I don't think I love her how you mean," he managed. "She's a lot like a big sister to me."

Gaara gave a satisfied nod. "Then take care of her," he ordered.

"She can take care of herself," Naruto corrected.

"Right, you're only here because there are other people who don't think she can," Gaara bitterly surmised.

"Besides, if you care so much, you take care of her," he challenged.

Gaara smirked but the young man standing behind him didn't get to see it. "Thank you," he gave a slight nod and was gone.


	12. Visitation

Calixta woke only an hour later. Since Naruto appeared to be asleep in his chair a few feet away, she carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Where are you going?" the young man asked in a tired voice.

"Oh, you are awake," she started a little at the sound of his voice, "Since that's the case, would you mind handing me my purse?"

"That's it?" he asked lazily.

"That is all," she giggled.

He didn't say anything, just handed her the bag and watched to make sure she was going to stay in bed. To his surprise and sleepy delight, she was but she wasn't going back to sleep. Rather, she turned on the little light above her bed, pulled out a sheet of paper, along with a pen, and started writing. However, before she could finish, she nodded off again only to awaken when the first streams of light started coming through her window.

"Shit!" she shot upright.

Naruto started awake at her sudden expletive. "What's wrong?"

She finished frantically writing on the paper and hastily folded it. "Please, take this to Gaara. I know they probably left the village already but I'm sure you can catch them."

"I-I would but, I'm not supposed to leave," he hesitated even though he was already holding the paper.

As soon as he started to protest, Calixta pushed the call button. When the on duty nurse came in, "Go, please, before he gets too far," she pleaded with Naruto. Once the young man was gone, she turned to the nurse and asked for the machine used to express her milk.

* * *

"Hey, wait up!" Naruto called after the team of sand ninja a few minutes later. She was right, they had already left but they still weren't far from the outer edge of the village.

"What is it now?" Baki snapped. "We've wasted enough time in your village."

"Uh, yeah," Naruto managed as he finished his hurried approach. "Just this," he pulled the paper out of his jacket but when he saw Baki reaching for it, he quickly redirected, "It's for Gaara."

Had it been for either of his other two students, Baki would have snatched it away. Gaara was permitted to take it without interference. "From who," the sensei asked instead.

"It's from Calixta-san," Naruto replied, feeling as though he was telling a secret. "Uh, that's it. See ya," he dashed away.

He contemplated reading the note right away but his team seemed a little too interested to leave him be about it so he tucked it in his clothes without a word. However, he couldn't help taking a little peak at it now and then, even if it was just unfolding the top to see his name written in her delicate but unwavering pen strokes. Then, when they made camp for the night, he sat down next to the fire and read it.

* * *

Gaara's relationship with Calixta perplexed Baki, which was why when Kakashi asked him to come over so they could talk, he accepted.

"Ah, Baki, come right in," Kakashi mentioned. "Tea?" he offered. He had been planning to make some for himself anyway and thought it polite to offer.

"That's fine. Tell me about what happened to Gaara and Kankuro," Baki requested, wasting no time with pleasantries.

"Calixta told you at the hospital what happened," Kakashi replied evenly.

"I want to hear it from you," he pressed.

Kakashi sighed. "You don't trust her even an inch, do you?" he half-teased.

"My trust is not the issue here. I want to know what happened to my students," he resolutely replied.

The copy-nin sighed again and gathered his thoughts before retelling the story from that afternoon, fleshing out some of the details that Calixta had left out, not because she was hiding anything but because she most likely wasn't aware or didn't remember. When he was finished, Baki still appeared displeased. "What's the matter?"

"How can you be so relaxed about this? She's manipulating the people of your village and I'm starting to think she's got you too," he accused.

"Baki, you sound paranoid," Kakashi eased. "It's not like she just goes around charming everyone she meets," he took another moment to explain the nature of some of the training he had her do.

"I'm surprised she hasn't been driven out with torches and pitchforks by now," the sand ninja scoffed.

Kakashi laughed loudly at the notion. "Actually, everyone she's charmed has taken the news very well since they found out.

"Because they were charmed by her," Baki countered.

"I can see there's no convincing you of her general good will. That's fine. It's not really the crux of why you're here anyway." When Baki glared at him in response, he continued, "You're more worried about her relationship with your strongest and least stable student."

"That's true and frankly, I think you should be too," he snapped.

"I would be worried if I felt like there was anything I could do about it," the grey-haired ninja shrugged.

"You can always do something. Forbid her to see him anymore," he suggested.

Kakashi laughed again, "Don't you realize that's the fastest way to make them want to be together, whether it's good for them or not?"

"You're not convinced that letting them even spend time together is a bad idea," Baki accused.

"Well, you know Gaara far better than I do so I trust your judgment of his demeanor but as far as Calixta goes, she was no worse for the wear due to their encounter. Has Gaara been himself since their first meeting?"

Baki thought for a moment, first about the answer to that question then how much of it he wanted to reveal to the other man. "He was…calmer, more agreeable," he managed.

"Is that bad?" Kakashi half-joked.

"It is if it's her fault," Baki snapped harshly.

"Because you think she's manipulating him," the copy-nin jokingly surmised.

"The fact that he was called here by her like so many others proves that she is," he nearly growled.

"One time and it wasn't her fault. On top of that, I think she's much stronger for the experience," Kakashi reasoned.

"Good for her…It only makes her more of a threat."

"Suit yourself. If I'd've known you were only seeking validation for your existing notions then I wouldn't have asked you in. As for me, as nervous as it makes me, I intend to encourage their relationship."

"By doing that, you undermine my authority," Baki growled.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. If it makes you feel any better, look at it this way. Neither one of them is very normal, each for their own reasons. Have you ever seen Gaara look at anyone like that before?"

"Those aren't his expressions," Baki insisted. "They're her doing."

"I think Gaara would be extremely offended that you doubt his control that much," Kakashi pointed out.

Baki grumbled and left a minute later feeling unsatisfied.

* * *

_Gaara_

_I feel compelled to apologize to you one more time for the circumstances that brought you to me. Please, if you can find a way, extend those apologies to the rest of your team. Regardless of all that, I greatly enjoyed seeing you again. It is my sincere hope that we will meet again, soon, and under better circumstances, but you already know that. Which is why this letter will be short, I need not even attempt to put my feelings into words. You know how flimsy and subjective words can be when offered to those who don't want to understand. Suffice to say, then, that I will miss you greatly and look forward to the day when our paths cross again. _

_Calixta_

Gaara couldn't help smiling at it a little. His intention had been to toss it into the fire as soon as he was finished reading it but it wasn't as embarrassing as he thought it would be. If someone else happened to read it, they wouldn't learn anything particularly special.

"What's it say?" Baki asked when he saw Gaara finish reading it for the second time.

"Nothing really. She says she's sorry about what happened," he curtly replied.

"That's it?" Temari pressed incredulously.

"She wants to see me again," he added with a slight smirk.

Baki had been worried about something like that. He didn't particularly trust Calixta before and now to find that she had pulled two of his students away from their village without warning, he pretty well disliked her. However, she made his most antisocial and aggressive student much more reasonable. He was torn. "Gaara, be careful when you deal with that woman." He knew that the fastest way to get them together would be to forbid their relationship outright, as Kakashi reiterated, so he hedged, still giving the same underlying impression.

Gaara shot his sensei a dark look that questioned the conviction of the statement. "Fine," he agreed nonchalantly.

Now Baki knew he was the one being placated but since Gaara wasn't angry for the suggestion, he felt a slight victory. "Good. She's too much trouble anyway."

Gaara almost laughed at that. Out of the four of them, Baki knew Calixta the least. Sure, he might have been privy to certain details from his discussions with Kakashi about her, but he hadn't actually spent any time with the young woman. This was mostly out of the grown man's fear of being overwhelmed by the young woman, something that would be far too humiliating to allow.

* * *

Kakashi had intended to be at the hospital to walk Calixta home the following afternoon but was detained by other matters so he sent Sasuke to do it for him. All things considered, it only seemed fitting.

When they exited, she held her palm up with the ladybug in it. "Go now, back to Shino. He's probably wondering where you are!" she urged the insect and it finally flew off. "Thanks," she sheepishly told him as they watched it fly off.

"Whatever. Kakashi-sensei was busy, or he'd do this himself," Sasuke replied.

"Not just for this, for that night. I'm glad you came after me. I don't know if I would have made it back here if it wasn't for you," she told him.

"You wouldn't have gotten stabbed if it wasn't for my knife," he retorted.

"If it wasn't that, it would have been something else, a tall tree, a precipice with a rocky bottom," she managed.

Sasuke shook his head with exasperation. "You were really gunna do it, weren't you?"

Calixta couldn't maintain eye contact after that. "Yes, yes I was."

"Who's Kujo?" he suddenly asked.

She visibly started at the name. "Someone I knew…long ago," she barely replied.

"A lover?" he rudely asked.

She started again. "N-No, not exactly," she managed and when she realized they were nearly at her door. "If you'll come in, I'll tell you about it."

That piqued Sasuke's curiosity further and he entered.

"Kujo was the first," she began.

"To be affected by your chakra?" he assumed.

"Precisely. We were best friends as children and people thought we would be a couple when we got older. It probably would have turned out that way if not for my chakra."

"I don't understand. If you two really liked each other that much, why not get together?"

She laughed a little. "It would have been convenient, wouldn't it? But that was a lot of the problem," she sighed. "I'll try to explain. He was a couple years older than me and the son of one of the high clergy families in my home village. After the changes started, it didn't take me long to figure out that something was strange, even stranger than puberty usually is," she almost laughed again.

"So, what changed?" he couldn't help prompting.

"I was too young at the time to realize he had a crush on me at first. It took my mother pointing it out for me to notice. We used to playfully bicker and generally give each other a hard time, like you and your friends do. It was nice," she added nostalgically. "But then he started to change. I would try to tease him and he would take me seriously, even change his behavior because he thought it would make me happy. Of course, it didn't. I liked him the way he was, as my friend. Then, one day, he kissed me. I tried to be nice about it. I didn't want to hurt his feelings because he meant so very much to me but it freaked me out when he said that my very presence aroused him, that he couldn't help the way he behaved. When I tried to talk to my mother about it, she said that was just how boys at that age are…but this seemed different some how. Sometimes, he would come to my window at night, said he was drawn to me in ways he couldn't explain."

Sasuke nodded with understanding but let her continue without interruption.

"It really worried me but I didn't want to hurt him so I tried to redirect him to Sena, the woman from the other night. She cared for him in the kinds of ways that I couldn't. I wanted his friendship; she wanted his heart. At first, she appreciated my efforts to get them together and it might have worked if not for my chakra, but as time passed and it continued to fail, she grew bitter and angry. She felt I was rubbing his attraction to me in her face. You must believe that I would never do something like that," she nearly pleaded.

"I believe you," he barely replied so that she would continue.

"His behavior embarrassed his family. He had always been such a pure and honorable young man until it started, then his behavior became erratic, even overtly perverted and he didn't seem to care. They blamed me for leading him on. I think they did that because they couldn't think of another way to deal with the changes in their son. Then, as if all that wasn't bad enough, others started to react to me in similar ways and it all just snowballed from there. My parents didn't know what to do. My father blamed me, thought as Sena did, that I was a tease, leading others on to the point where they did bizarre things. My mother gave me the benefit of the doubt but it did little good except that she was willing to help shoo away potential suitors. When it was clear that things were getting out of hand, she took me to some of the strange, outcast elders of our village. They were the first to realize that it was my chakra causing all the problems." She gave a deep sigh and looked out the window as though she might see someone familiar.

"So? Then what?" Sasuke prompted almost impatiently.

"They tried a bunch of different things but nothing seemed to help. In fact, some of it seemed to make matters worse. As time passed, Kujo became increasingly jealous of all the others attracted to me, refused to believe that it was out of my control and it made him angry that I wasn't meaner when I tried to turn them away. But you must understand that I just couldn't do that. I felt their affection and it made my demeanor softer, even when I wanted to be harsh. The situation drove him mad and he killed himself because of it. Sena, his parents, nearly everyone in our village blamed me for it and I ran away." She had to grab a tissue because of the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course…I didn't realize. I'm sorry I made you drudge it up," he managed.

She gave a sad little laugh. "You're the first person I've told about that wasn't trying to coach my abilities," she admitted. "And it's okay, really. After you saved me from myself, you deserve to have such questions answered."

"I can't believe she stalked you like that for so long," Sasuke commented.

"I've seen her since then, in various places but she never confronted me like that before," she added.

"She couldn't stand to see you succeed," he replied.

"I suppose so. I still feel bad for her. She loved him dearly, almost killed me for what happened," she told him.

"Sounds like she went mad too, if you ask me," he nearly scoffed.

"Love does strange things to people. Some even call love a form of madness," she replied. "Do you think that's what I do, make people mad?"

Sasuke couldn't help laughing at that. "If you'd asked me that after the first time we'd met, I'd probably agree to that. Now that you have control over the degree to which your chakra affects people, I don't think so," he told her evenly.

"I appreciate that. After all, you're the only other person who's had the kind of power that I have, at least that I know of anyway," she smiled a little. "I appreciate your insight. Tell me, have you used your copy of my chakra abilities on anyone else?"

Again, Sasuke chuckled. "No, I haven't."

"How come?" she pressed.

"It never seemed…like the most useful technique for the situations I've been in," he managed and when she quirked an odd smile at that he couldn't help questioning it, "What's that look for?" He had to ask because it made him feel warm inside, a pleasant feeling he wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"But you would use it, if the situation called for it?"

He looked away, "I suppose. It's foolish to dismiss a technique out of hand because you never know when it will be useful."

She nodded. "I appreciate that. Actually, I sort of lied to Lee and Neji about that," she admitted mischievously.

"How so?" she managed to pique his curiosity again.

"Well, when I was explaining my abilities to them, as Guy-sensei asked me to, they asked if you ever copied them. I told them that you thought it was beneath you," she answered.

"Why's that?" he pressed.

"For the sake of your modesty, for one thing. Besides, it's not like you could use it on either of them…well, not without the sexy jutsu, which would probably be more than enough by itself anyway, if you don't mind me saying," she giggled. "And it was while Kakashi was having us train together. I didn't want them asking you embarrassing questions that would make that any more difficult than it already was."

"I appreciate that," he half-smiled at her.

"I thought you would. Though, they did tell me that you called me a succubus," she teasingly told him.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Um, yeah, I-uh…I was still pretty mad about what happened during our trip here."

She gave a gentle smile. "I understand. Actually, I found it an amusing mischaracterization coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She laughed at his offense, "Just that, with your sharingan, you have the potential to be much more of a succubus than I could ever dream of."

He found himself laughing a little as well, that is, until she gave him another odd look. "You're giving me another weird look. You know how I hate that."

"I didn't mean to," she replied in place of an apology. "I was just wondering if you missed it, that's all."

"Missed what?"

"Oh, don't play coy. It doesn't suit you. Do you miss our little training sessions?" she pressed.

He shook his head in exasperation. "There's no right answer for that and you know it. I don't miss letting you control me," he half-lied because he realized there was a certain erotic appeal to giving someone else control, "But some of it was pretty fun," he admitted.

That made her smile in a way that made his stomach flutter.

"Perhaps we could…start our own independent training exercises then?" she proposed with a naughty undertone in her voice.

Sasuke couldn't help blushing a little. "Perhaps," he agreed in spite of his embarrassment.

"I'm sure you'd like to get a better handle on those techniques and I would be more than willing to let you experiment on me," she offered with a little wink.

It was his turn to quirk an odd expression.

"Now you're the one giving me weird looks," she playfully accused.

"You never cease to amaze me," he shook his head in exasperation again.

His responses now were so much different that they were months ago. It seemed like now they were finally getting along. Most of the tension between them had dissipated and it made her bold. She couldn't help scooting closer to him and pulling him in for a kiss.

He started at the sudden affection, even though it wasn't that sudden. Her approach had been slow and she had been watching him for signs of apprehension or revulsion. Finding none, she pressed forward, closing the gap between them. In spite of being startled, he gave into her affection because he could feel it warming him inside and out and because of his experience with her, he wasn't concerned by it. He knew it was the outward sign of her actual affection for him rather than the feeling of her strange chakra.

When their kiss broke he was nearly breathless and was having trouble catching his breath because of how intense their eye contact was. Luckily, or otherwise, he was saved from speaking by a knock on the door, followed immediately by an urgent barking. "Expecting a visitor?" he dryly commented, knowing exactly who it was.

"No," she blushed, then giggled at the idea of the three of them together because of how audacious it would be.

"What's that stupid laugh for?" he scoffed.

"If you changed into sexy jutsu and answered the door with me, Kiba-kun might die of sudden blood loss," she laughed.

Sasuke shook his head again, "Just go answer the door," he dismissed because of how tempting it was.

"Kiba-kun, how nice to see you. Would you like to come in?" she motioned, surprised that Akamaru just kept barking.

"Kuromaru…she's in labor…" he gasped as he tried to catch his breath from running to her door.

"Oh, my goodness!" Calixta gasped. "Should I bring anything?"

"I think we have everything we need," he replied.

Calixta turned back to her original guest. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Why do you care if his mom's dog's having babies?" Sasuke stood and started for the door.

"Because she offered me one of the pups!" she enthusiastically replied.

"You sure you're up for that? They just let you out of the hospital today," Sasuke warned.

"I should be fine. I can always go home if it's too much for me," she reasoned but he didn't appear convinced. "If you think I shouldn't go, I'll stay here," she disappointedly offered.

"No, it's okay. Go ahead," he conceded and received a quick kiss on the cheek as thanks before she ran off.

* * *

Calixta was practically weeping by the time Kuromaru's puppies were born.

"Are you okay?" Tsume asked when she heard the young woman sniffling.

"Oh, I'm wonderful! This is amazing! I've never been able to witness a birth before," she awed. Shortly after, the spectacle caused her milk to let down and she had to excuse herself to express it. She made it back just in time for the last couple of puppies to come out. Once they were cleaned up, they started nursing from their mother and she set down a bowl of milk next to the mother.

As she was setting down the bowl, Tsume gave her an odd look, "Kuromaru's got her own milk."

"Of course. I would never interfere with that. This is for Kuromaru. I hope it will help her recover faster from the physical trauma," she told the woman. "If you'd rather I didn't, I completely understand," she retracted.

"Oh, no, that's perfectly fine," she was almost startled by the young woman's thoughtfulness.

Naturally, when asked which puppy she would like to adopt, she chose the runt of the litter.

"Are you sure you want that one? I'm not sure she'll survive," Tsume carefully told her.

Calixta just smiled up at her. "That's why I want her," she replied simply. "I'd like to leave the rest of my milk here for you to give her," she told the older woman because the puppy's siblings didn't seem inclined to share their mother's milk with her.

"Of course. Thank you. They won't be ready to leave their mother for a few weeks, but you may visit whenever you like," Tsume offered and received another smile in response.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" she hugged the older woman, who found it awkward at first but then her own motherly instincts kicked in and she hugged her back.

"It's nothing. I'm sure you'll take good care of her. What will you name her?" she asked as the younger woman withdrew.

She blinked a couple times, "Uh, I don't know, actually. I was so excited about the idea of a new born puppy that I wasn't worried about names," she admitted.

Tsume nodded. "Well, you have plenty of time to think it over. Now, you look very tired," she observed before turning to her son, "Why don't you walk Calixta home?"

"Oh, I can make it myself," Calixta offered.

"I'm sure you can but since you just got out of the hospital, I would be much more comfortable if someone went with you. Besides, I thought you liked my son," she teasingly chided.

Calixta and Kiba both blushed.

"Mom!" Kiba scolded because of his embarrassment, which caused Calixta to giggle.

"Please, walk me home," Calixta turned to the young man.

He blushed again but agreed and led her out. "Sorry about my mom," he tried once they were out of earshot.

"No worries. I'm just glad she likes me and doesn't mind us spending time together. I can handle a little embarrassment for that," she offered.

That made Kiba smile because he hadn't thought about it that way before.

"Either way, thanks for walking me home. I am rather tired. It's been quite a day," she smiled and took his arm. "What do you think about Satu?" she asked after a few minutes of walking.

"Sugar?" he blinked at her with confusion.

"Yeah, Satu, as a name for my puppy," she clarified.

"If she lives…" he muttered. "I think it's a great name," he conceded.

"You don't think she'll make it either," Calixta accused quietly.

"It's just that…the runt of the litter rarely does. I don't want you to get your hopes up only to be disappointed. I'm sorry, I don't want to depress you," he tried.

"Give her your positive energy as you have to me. Think well of her and don't deny her your affection simply because of what she is," she advised seriously.

Her response left Kiba largely speechless. He was just about to say something to try to make up for his previous statements when she smiled warmly up at him and the feeling that it gave him stole his words. He bit his lip and smiled back at her.

"You'll keep a special eye on her for me, would ya?" she asked.

"Yeah, I can do that," he agreed.

"I appreciate that," she said as they walked up to her door. "Thanks for walking me home. I'd invite you in but your mother's probably waiting for your return. Though…if you wouldn't mind coming and getting me some time tomorrow, I'd like to see her again."

"Sure thing," he nodded confidently. Then, in a moment of boldness, he leaned down and kissed her good night.

Kiba did as she asked and kept an eye on the girl puppy she'd chosen as her own but found that he didn't really have to. Akamaru had taken it upon himself to make sure that the little runt had her own space during feeding, even going as far as to push some of the bigger puppies out of the way to make room for her. Kiba wondered how his dog knew which one to care for. It wasn't like Calixta had been able to hold the little thing, or even do more than point at it. In fact, he couldn't even tear his own dog away long enough for him to go get Calixta to visit the next day.

She had been waiting all morning for Kiba to come get her but she didn't tell him that. "I'm happy to see you but where's Akamaru?" she said as they started off.

Kiba laughed a little, "Taking care of Satu," he replied.

"Really?" She sounded surprised.

"Hasn't left her side since we came back last night," he recounted some of the more caring things he'd done for her.

"Really? Wow," she marveled. "Can we stop off at the market on our way?" she asked suddenly.

"Sure. What for?"

"Doggy treats," she answered with a smile.

"The puppies are too small for that kind of thing," he advised.

"Not for them. For Akamaru and Kuromaru, silly," she laughed.

"Oh, okay then," he agreed and helped her pick out the dogs' favorites.

With the help of Akamaru and the positive energy of those around her, Satu exceeded the expectations of most and thrived. Calixta was able to take her home eight weeks later and in the meantime, the Inuzuka family helped her prepare her home for the new arrival and gave her tips for care and training, which was greatly appreciated as she had never had a pet of her own before.

She was surprised when she came home with the little puppy to find Kakashi waiting on her porch. "Sensei, did I forget something?" she fretted. She has been so caught up in getting her dog that she was worried about forgetting her normal duties.

"Not at all. I just brought a little present for your new arrival. I hope she doesn't have one already," he pulled a little rubber bone from his vest.

Calixta beamed at his thoughtfulness and her puppy barked with excitement, jumping from her arms toward the teacher holding the toy.

"You are a friendly one," he knelt down and gave Satu the toy.

"She knows good people," Calixta commented with a wink.

Shortly after, Satu and Akamaru were playing in the yard while the others watched with delight.

* * *

In the meantime, there was one near-holiday that she almost missed with all the excitement. However, she remembered Kakashi's birthday just in time to bake a few cupcakes and deliver them that evening.

"Happy birthday!" she greeted loudly when he answered the door.

He smiled widely enough to be seen through his scarf and let her in. "With all the commotion, I almost forgot it myself," he admitted.

She just smiled back. She also had a present for him but that would wait until later. "What would you like for your birthday?" she asked as though she had nothing prepared.

He pretended to think for a long moment. "Actually, there is one thing," he told her slyly as he scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"You know I won't argue but I'd rather give you something you haven't already had," she teased.

"You didn't let me finish," he playfully tapped the end of her nose.

"Oh? Then by all means," she conceded.

"I want you to cut loose on me, hit me with every last little bit of that sexy chakra of yours, short out my brain cells, and let me completely give into my desires for you," he nearly pleaded.

Her eyes grew wide with near-horror, then, she laughed at him, "You really had me there for a second," she brushed it off as a joke.

"I'm serious," he told her, pushing her forcefully to the ground. "Over the last couple weeks, you've proven that you have a good handle on your chakra, that even when you're pushed to the extreme, it's going to take quite a bit for you to lose control. Frankly, I don't think you ever completely lost control. Exercise your power on me, that's what I want," he told her surely.

She gasped at his words as he started to nibble on her neck in ways that made her squirm. "B-But after so long of resisting me…" she barely spoke but she could feel his words were honest, that the desire he spoke was true, so she offered no further arguments.

As she started to focus her chakra on him, she could feel conflicting desires bubbling up. Part of him wanted to be forceful with her, to pin her down and ride her with every ounce of his strength. The other part wanted her to take complete control of him and use him to fulfill her own desires. At first, she didn't know what to do with these conflicting desires but as their embrace became more intimate, she started to get a few ideas.

Her focus on Kakashi increased and his eyes started to glaze over, "Yessss…" he nodded vaguely as she rolled them over so that she could be on top. His unerring compliance made her giggle and she felt him shudder because of it. Then, much to his dismay, she withdrew from him entirely. He gave her a disappointed look and tried to approach her again.

Calixta smirked and held a finger out between them, shaking it from side to side as a warning not to approach further. Just as he was about to speak, she interrupted him. "Strip for me," she ordered in a soft, sweet voice.

Kakashi gave a wide, silly grin and complied but when he reached for his bandana, she spoke again.

"You may leave that if you like. I know it drains you to have it exposed," she offered.

He left his one eye covered because she was right about it draining him and he wanted to give her as much of his energy as he could.

"I know this is what you want…I just find it difficult to believe," she told him as he finished undressing.

"That I could trust you so much?" he slyly prompted.

"That you would voluntarily give up so much of your personal control, no matter to whom," she corrected.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No more so than many of the other things you've asked me to do, and it's likely that's just because it's for your personal benefit rather than my advancement as a ninja," she answered.

That made him chuckle with understanding. "So…is there anything else you'd like me to do? Or do you just like to have me naked?" he half-teased.

"Having you naked is rather pleasant. You've got incredible self confidence," she remarked.

"I'm confident because I _know_ you think I'm attractive," he replied simply.

"I was hoping if you wouldn't mind eating me out, sort of like you did my first night here. That was really good," she smirked and received a grin in return.

He practically rushed over to her, pushing her back to the floor, pushing up her dress and pulling her panties off. Just as he started to nibble on her inner thighs, he summoned a clone of himself to hold her hands.

"Ah! What the-?" she looked up with surprise, having all but forgotten about that particular turn from the evening that seemed so long ago.

"You said like the first night," Kakashi told her as he teased the hood of her clit. "Would you prefer him to leave?"

Calixta considered for a moment before fitfully shaking her head 'no'; she liked the extra attention as well as the idea that it was, in actuality, all coming from a single individual.

She had lost count of the number of times she'd cum for him when there was a tentative knock on the door. Without thinking, Kakashi summoned another clone to answer it so he could continue uninterrupted. Unfortunately for the person at the door, he didn't have the forethought to have that clone put some pants on before answering the knock.

Clone or otherwise, he was still surprised to find a very awkward Sasuke standing on the porch. "Sasuke-kun, is there something I can do for you?" he asked.

Sasuke had come because he sensed Calixta's nearly unbridled chakra. He hadn't been drawn to it as he had when she didn't have full control of it but the intensity worried him. It worried him even more when it was coming from his sensei's house and he could sense no one else inside but her and his instructor. "Um…well…" he shifted uncomfortably due to the older man's nudity and the fact that he could still hear Calixta's cries of pleasure emanating from somewhere inside. "I-I could feel Calixta's chakra and it was sort of like when she lost control…I just wanted to make sure everything was okay," he looked at his feet.

The Kakashi clone laughed. "She's just giving Kakashi his birthday present," he replied, which earned him a look of skeptical shock.

"Who is it?" Calixta called when she noticed the third clone and the other voice.

"It's just Sasuke-kun," the clone called back, "He was concerned that your chakra control might be slipping again."

"Hey," she pulled the real Kakashi's head away by the hair, "Stop for a bit," she ordered and he complied without question even if he did look a bit disappointed. Then, she stood, pulled her dress down, and hurried over to the door.

Sasuke was disconcerted by how easily the clone was shooed away. "I'm just gunna go…" he tried but she stopped him.

"You don't have to," she winked and received a glare in response. "Oh, don't be like that. Either way, you don't have to worry. If you can keep a secret, Kakashi-sensei asked me to use my chakra on him as his birthday present," she told him quietly.

He blushed even harder. "Okay, fine, whatever. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay," he turned to leave again.

"Sasuke-san," she called after him.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Have you gotten your sensei a birthday present?" she chided.

"He never mentioned his birthday," Sasuke countered.

"You wanna see something really funny?" she tried.

"What?" he grumbled again.

"Oh, I think you know. Just work some of your sexy jutsu magic and we can pick up where we left off the other day before I had to run off. I'm sure he'd enjoy the show and I can guarantee he won't lay a finger on you…unless you want him to," she offered.

"Look, you know I really don't-" he began but she cut him off.

"You know he won't tell anybody. It'll mean too much to him to speak about to others. It's completely the opposite of what he expects so you could even catch him by surprise," she taunted.

That last bit was what made Sasuke turn around, seriously considering her words.

"Just a few little kisses and gush!" she made an exaggerated hand motion.

"He might pass out from sudden blood loss," Sasuke smirked.

She nodded in affirmation.

"Okay, I'll do it, but dismiss his clones first. One Kakashi-sensei is bad enough," he bargained.

"Deal. Come on in," she led him inside and closed the door behind him.

"What's this?" the real Kakashi questioned curiously.

"Get rid of the two extras, one of you is plenty," she told him evenly and a second later, they were gone. Then, she gave Sasuke an expecting look.

"What are you up to?" Kakashi asked, almost concerned by the mischievous look they both had in their eyes, but instead of a verbal response, Sasuke changed into a naked female and the pair started making out right in front of him. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped almost to the floor.

As if the spectacle wasn't arousing enough, Kakashi could feel how much it aroused Calixta. He might have been able to keep his nose from bleeding too badly if not for that. The extra push she gave him to keep her own nose from bleeding, made his practically gush as he blinked almost stupidly at what he saw.

Sasuke was a moment away from pushing Calixta's dress down off her shoulders when she pulled away from him. "Oh dear!" she playfully fretted. "What a mess!" She drew the young ninja's attention to his sensei.

"Oh no!" Sasuke played along. "Though, not as messy as I expected," he commented to Calixta and Kakashi didn't seem to notice.

Calixta grabbed a box of tissues off the table. "That's only because most of his extra blood is down here," she told him as she lightly fondled the older man's erection.

Sasuke blushed, "Oh…" he managed.

"Here, you clean up his face and I'll get the rest," she told him and he complied if only because he only had to touch his instructor's face.

"Wh-What…Why?" Kakashi barely asked of the young man, turned young woman, carefully cleaning the blood from his face.

"Happy birthday, Sensei," Sasuke replied with a wink.

"Uh, yeah…thanks," Kakashi managed.

Then, Sasuke turned back to Calixta, "You sure he's okay? I've never seen'im this out of it."

Calixta giggled and Sasuke actually saw his sensei shiver. "He's fine," she dismissed.

"Never better," Kakashi added with a silly grin. "But I guess you're gunna go now. Thanks for the visit," he told his student, a slight undertone of disappointment in his voice.

Sasuke had been intending to leave but the disappointment in the older man's voice made him second guess that intention. He shot Calixta an unsure look.

"Do as you please," she told him.

"What are you going to do?" he asked anxiously. Part of him wanted to stay but the other part felt as though he had intruded enough.

She smiled at them. "Oh, a little of this, a little of that," she offhandedly replied.

"A little?" Kakashi pouted.

"Or a lot, it's up to you, dear," she smiled gently at the older man and received a wide grin in return. "Would you care to stay a bit longer?" she asked Sasuke.

"I-I don't know what-" he began but she cut him off.

"What to do?" she assumed. "No worries. I've got ideas," she told him.

"I bet you do," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you let him taste you? In spite of all your bitter words, you are quite sweet," she half-teased.

"What about you?" the young ninja snapped.

Calixta smiled because Sasuke didn't object to the idea of receiving oral sex from his sensei. "I'm gunna take care of this," she started to massage Kakashi's erection, making the older man groan. However, she could still see hesitance in the young ninja's features. "'Kashi-sensei, why don't you ask him nicely?" she prompted, momentarily intensifying her focus on him.

As her chakra focus intensified, Kakashi's eyes became increasingly unfocused but he didn't think twice before doing as she suggested. "Yes, Sasuke, please, let me taste you; let me give you pleasure. I want you to feel good, to feel ecstasy because of me. You're so sexy no matter what form you take," he babbled. "Please, let me make you cum."

Sasuke was already aroused and tempted so his sensei's frantic and heated babble only served to clinch the deal. "Yeah, okay," he nodded and felt his heart skip a beat at the greedy grin he received in response.

Without further hesitation, Kakashi grabbed his student's round hips and positioned them so that he was laying on his back with Sasuke's knees on either side of his head. Once in position, he wasted no time in lapping at the young man turned young woman's slit with his soft warm tongue. During this, Calixta was glad that Sasuke wasn't facing her because she was worried that her pleased expression would have deterred the young ninja.

Sasuke's first whimpers of pleasure made Calixta take further action by positioning herself over Kakashi's erection and slowly slide down. Both Kakashi and Calixta moaned deeply at the penetration and the intensity of the vocalizations startled Sasuke a little but the renewed vigor that it sparked in the man between his legs made him quickly forget. Before he knew it, he was moaning along with them and thrashing his head back and forth with fitful orgasms.

After Calixta's first orgasm from that, she spoke. "'Kashi-sensei, please, turn Sasuke-san around."

Kakashi obeyed without delay even though Sasuke questioned the request.

"Wh-What for?" he demanded, half because he didn't understand, half because Kakashi had to stop tonguing his clit to do it.

"I want to see your face when you cum. You make the sexiest faces and sounds," she told him breathily.

Sasuke sneered at that but it didn't last because Kakashi's tongue was inside him and bringing him closer to his next release. So that the dark-haired teen wouldn't be as self-conscious about her observation, she brought their faces close together and started to kiss him. Before he realized what was happening, they were making out and groping while simultaneously receiving pleasure from the same man, who seemed more than content beneath them.

Kakashi found he had to sit up a little to keep working on his younger student when Sasuke's groping had started Calixta's milk flowing and he began lapping it up from her skin without a second thought. Because of all this, Kakashi was quickly approaching his own orgasm. He held it back as long as he could because he didn't want the experience to end but figured that regardless of when it happened, the pair riding him would be satisfied because they had both cum more times than they could count.

However, when he did finally give into the pressure building in his groin, he found that his release didn't come. He groaned and bucked his hips even harder against Calixta's, which had already been hitting him with significant force, but still he hung on the precipice of orgasm. After another few minutes of this, he spoke. "Why? Why can't I cum?" he almost pleaded.

"Oh?" Calixta coyly replied. "You want your orgasm now?"

"The pressure…so much," he winced because it was almost painful.

Calixta giggled. "Why didn't you say so, silly?" she teased but before he could reply, she let him have the release he longed for and he came hard inside her, not realizing that the tight grip he had on Sasuke's hips might leave bruises. Bruises or no, it didn't matter, the milk the dark-haired ninja had consumed would more than take care of such minor injuries.

Once spent, Kakashi lay limp on the floor, sprawled out, thoroughly satisfied, and half-conscious.

As Sasuke dismounted, he gave Calixta a suspicious look, "You kept him from cuming," he accused as he changed back into a clothed male.

"It was…an experiment. I wasn't sure if I could do it so I didn't say anything. Either way, I'd like to think it was a pleasant surprise for our dear birthday boy," she looked affectionately at Kakashi who was nodding vaguely at her admission. "It's nice to know I can do that for a male partner…though I can't help wondering if I could do the same to a female. I'm sure it would be far more difficult," she mused.

Sasuke shook his head with exasperation and stood. "Happy birthday, sensei," he said with a slight smile and left.

Even in his daze, Kakashi could see Calixta's slightly disappointed expression, "What's the matter?"

"He always leaves so quickly," she playfully pouted.

"It's his way," he shrugged and pulled her down to snuggled next to him on the floor.

"Did you enjoy your present?" she asked as she slowly started to reign in her chakra, fearing that doing so too quickly might be disturbing for the individual she had been working on.

"Do you even have to ask?" Kakashi chuckled. "I'm surprised you got Sasuke to stay. Was he part of your plan?"

She laughed at that. "I had no plan. As he said, he came here to make sure my chakra wasn't out of control again. And I'm just as surprised as you are that he decided to stay and play. Though, I did promise him you wouldn't say anything to anyone about it."

"He doesn't have to worry about that. Even if I did tell anybody, they'd never believe me. Thank you, that was amazing. Best birthday present ever," he told her seriously.

"I'm glad. I didn't want to disappoint you," she playfully told him.

He gave her an odd look. "You were really worried you might disappoint me, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah, of course," she managed.

"But why? You can sense what I like and what I don't," he reasoned.

"It's hard to explain…you expect a lot of me. I don't know if you realize it, but you do sometimes. I got the impression this was one of those times," she carefully replied.

He hadn't realized it until she pointed it out but, she was right. "No matter what I was expecting, I'm completely satisfied," he grinned.

She left later that evening but left a special present in his mail box, her notes about him.

Kakashi awoke early the following morning feeling thoroughly refreshed. Usually after a romp that good, he would have slept in. He was enjoying a good rest in his hammock when the mailman came. The mailman noticed the copy-nin stirring just as he opened the mailbox. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei! It looks like someone got to your mailbox before me this morning," he called with a smile.

"Huh? Who?" Kakashi sat up with marked interest.

"Doesn't say…but it's got a pretty string tied all nice around it," he replied cheekily.

The grey haired man had the little bundle of paper in his hand in a matter of seconds. The papers had been folded into the shape of a small box. He smirked a little when he saw her handwriting on the parts he could see. Then, he quirked an odd look, which was largely lost due to his facial coverings when he realized he shouldn't have been surprised that she was skilled at origami. With the combination of her natural dexterity and the incredible spans of time alone, he realized that he would have been surprised if she hadn't at least dabbled in it.

"You know who it's from?" the mailman pressed curiously.

"Perhaps," he dodged. "Is that my mail?" he motioned to the small stack of envelopes still in the other man's hand.

"Uh, yeah, here," he handed it over.

"Thank you, good day," he sauntered back inside. Even though he didn't know exactly what it was, he was pleased by the sudden gift nonetheless.

The pages were folded in such a way as to resemble a cube with perfect right angles but instead of being self-contained, he found that when he pulled loose the string bow that was tied around it, the box opened up into the shape of a flower with more layers and peddles than he could count. At the center, folded tightly into a near-circle, was the portion he decided to read first. Carefully, he pulled and turned the disk of paper until it turned into two sheets.

_Kakashi-sensei - sensei of the three who escorted me to the Village Hidden in the Leaves; oddly immune to my chakra, find him handsome and charming even though he hardly shows any of himself, was kind, doesn't seem to suspect my encounter with his student, wonder who-if anyone-will tell him_

_Took me on as an extra student after a strange, almost ritualistic, meeting with the higher ranking ninja of the village, still showed great resistance, even managed to pull away, wonder what allowed him to pull the way he did_

_So difficult to reach, hesitated the first night because of how distant he was, how self-contained, didn't think he wanted me or maybe he was testing me, I know what the elders would expect me to do but this man obviously does not think the same way, perhaps he will open up to me over time, as unnerving as it is, it is oddly comforting that I do not have to block him out, was amazingly good to me that night but stubborn, would not let me repay him, makes me feel further indebted to him_

_First rule: no apologizing at all_

_I cook and clean here because I have little else to do sometimes, seems to think I do these things for other reasons, like the previously mentioned debt or out of affection or because it's what I used to do when no one was around, he may be right, I need friends but where to start? what to do? makes me feel like I'm not trying sometimes, usually when I don't know what to do_

That was all that was on the first two pages so he carefully folded them into a shape of his own because knew he couldn't replicate what she had done. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the flower, doing the same with the subsequent sheets.

_Started a strange 'training' regimen today, charm the fifth person who makes eye contact with me for more than three seconds; Guy-sensei was the first; then the young male shopkeeper who works weekday afternoons; then a young woman from the academy; then a middle aged man working on one of the shops_

_Then Master Jiraiya, I didn't want to tell Kakashi about him because I think they know one anther fairly well, also didn't want him to think I failed or that I was giving up, don't want him to know that as much as I want to do as he asks, I find too much genuine comfort from the older Master to honestly try to charm him; it wouldn't work anyway_

There were a few more idle details about the 'conquests' she had brought him. Then, the topic shifted to her training with Sasuke, which he only skimmed because he'd gotten more than enough detail on that while reading the sheets with the teen's name on them. Even from that, he could tell she was more than a little irked that he had Sasuke take his place to meet her demand that her abilities be copied and used on her.

The next few pages gave her impressional account of the night she caught him snooping though her trunk of papers.

_Told Jiraiya that I felt betrayed by K-sensei after finding him going though the black box, still not sure if that was the right word for it, felt so many strong and conflicting emotions at the time that was all I could come up with, still not sure if there's a word for it now, I think more than anything, I was angry that he make me feel that way, I knew he'd gone through my things before, even left things askew to let me know, surprised it took him as long as it did to find my papers, like so many others he asked for these, it's unsettling to have him take so much of me without any sign of giving even a little of himself, must remind myself that he is my sensei and I am his student, distance is necessary_

The rest of his reading was less eventful by comparison but he was not left wanting. The only things missing were the pages from when she was in the hospital. He reasoned that was because she wasn't permitted to do much writing while there. Regardless, he was more than pleased and immediately started thinking of a way to show his gratitude.

As he was folding her papers into a flock of cranes, Naruto came to visit. "Come in, I'm back here," he called from the study. "Ah, Naruto-kun. To what do I owe the visit?"

"I never got to give you my report from when Gaara was here," he replied regretfully. As he was on his way back into town, he received mission orders and had to leave for a couple days before he got the chance to hand it in.

Kakashi looked up from his folding to see a short stack of papers in his student's hand. "Uh, look, Naruto, I've done a lot of reading this morning. My eyes are kinda tired. Why don't you just run through the highlights for me and I'll look at that later?" he proposed.

Naruto frowned and set the papers on the desk. "He came to her, like you said he would," he began.

The grey-haired sensei nodded. "And?"

"She wanted to see him so I let him in," he continued awkwardly.

"And?" he prompted again.

"He was…good, didn't try to hurt her or anything," the teen managed.

"But you saw how nice he was to her at the sand village, why would you think it would be different here?" he pressed distractedly.

"I dunno…Gaara's a weird guy. It's hard to tell what he's going to do," Naruto reasoned.

"But Calixta can tell what he's feeling. If she felt threatened by him, she wouldn't smile at him the way she does," he pointed out.

"I'll try to remember that," the blonde agreed.

"Good. Anything else?"

The blonde visibly squirmed. "They-uh, sort of…Well, they-that is-" he stammered, only offering up the information because it was Calixta they were talking about.

"Oh? Did they now?" Kakashi chuckled. "Are you sure of that?"

Naruto wracked his brain for the best way to say it. "I-I…I was there at the time," he managed.

That actually made Kakashi look up with surprise. "Wait, you were there at the time? Were you also involved at the time?" he teasingly pressed.

"What? No! Of course not!" Naruto blushed furiously at the notion. "Look, I caught Gaara about to sneak into her window. He wasn't going to leave without seeing her so I ducked inside to check with her to make sure she was up for it. I almost got sick to my stomach when I saw her. Sensei, the nurse had strapped her to the bed!" he nearly pleaded.

Kakashi frowned. "Did she say why?"

"'Cause she wouldn't stay in bed. I made a deal with the nurse. I stayed with her for the night so that she could be unstrapped," he elaborated.

"I see. It's not usually like her to be so stubborn about something so simple but I'm sure she had a reason. I think you did the right thing. So, what did you do? Just stand there and watch?"

"No…I didn't watch. I just sorta sat in the window trying not to listen," he snapped.

Kakashi gave an impressed nod. "You did well," he went back to folding.

"What are you doing anyway?" Naruto suddenly asked, snapped out of his embarrassment by the praise.

"Oh this?" he held up a half-folded crane, "Just a little side project," he dismissed. "Is there anything else?"

"Actually, I had sort of a question," he blurted out because he knew if he thought about it too much, he would lose his nerve.

"What's that?" Kakashi barely prompted.

"Well, it has to do with when they-uh, ya know," he began.

"Okay, Naruto-kun," Kakashi interrupted. "If we're going to have a discussion like this, you're going to have to at least be willing to say that they had sex," he advised.

The blonde teen pursed his lips in a moment of frustration before beginning again. "When they were…having sex, I didn't really see any of it," he clarified, "But when I did turn to take a look at'em when they were done, he was bleeding. He didn't realize, but I told him and he seemed…happy about it."

"Wait, bleeding? From what?"

"Like I said, I didn't see exactly but I can take a pretty good guess. She scratched the hell out of his back, and left dark bruises on his neck and shoulder from biting him," he explained.

"Okay…What's the question?" Kakashi pressed, amused as he was disturbed.

"Is that normal?" he finally asked.

"Not really, no," Kakashi managed, setting down the crane he had been working on so that his student would understand he had his full attention. "Some individuals enjoy that sort of thing more than others. Even so, as far as I know, that is atypical behavior for Calixta. Did Gaara leave any marks on her?" he asked suddenly.

"No, he was animate that she not be hurt. He freaked out when I made her nose bleed and not because he was jealous or anything like that. It was 'cause he saw her blood, I'm sure of it."

"Then I think it's safe to say that the fetish is Gaara's and to be honest, it's not terribly surprising. There would be no reason to do something like that to her if she didn't enjoy it. It shouldn't surprise you to know that, especially with as close as Gaara and Calixta appear to be, if he did cause her pain, he wouldn't come away from it unscathed."

"What do you mean? She doesn't stand a chance against him if he lashes out at her," Naruto pointed out.

"When enough of her chakra mixes with that of her partner, they become…intertwined. So, when one of them feels pleasure, it is felt by both. The same goes for other emotions. The more give and take there is, the stronger the link becomes. That's why you get that funny feeling in your stomach when she smiles at you sometimes," he added.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "But Calixta and I don't…" he trailed off until he remembered the advice he received a moment ago, "have sex."

"That's why it's only that little feeling. For those who have had intimate experiences with her, it has the potential to be much stronger."

"He's just using her then, to feel good," Naruto weakly accused.

"That is one of the layers to the situation but keep in mind, he can't do that without wanting the same for her. If he didn't really care about her, or if he wanted to hurt her, it wouldn't work."

"Do you like that kind of thing, Sensei?" the blonde teen suddenly and boldly questioned.

"I think that's a little too personal. Besides, if I answer that, you'll just have more questions," he half-teased.

"Oh…" Naruto gave a perplexed look. "Can I go now?"

Kakashi gave an affectionate chuckle. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."


	13. Another Visit

"Tell me about your relationship with Gaara," Kakashi requested one evening over dinner.

Calixta smiled at the sound of his name. "What would you like to know?"

"Whatever you'd like to tell me," he shrugged, "I'm just curious because he actually seems to like you and, well, I won't say he doesn't care for anybody but I've never seen him show it before."

"I believe he does like me, which works out quite well because I find myself quite fond of him," she blushed at the admission.

"I had a feeling you did. You don't tend to lead people on," he commented.

"Are you concerned because of his reputation?" she asked carefully.

"Reputation?" he repeated the word carefully. To him, Gaara had more than a reputation; he had a history, something much more dangerous. Though, she had not witnessed the young sand ninja's rampage and the invasion it had allowed. "I suppose you could say that."

"That is a common reaction," she shrugged. "I've heard about some of the things he's done," she regretfully told him.

"Do his past actions bother you?"

She gave a sad little smile. "No, I can't change the past. I just fear that he has the potential to cause such pain and destruction again. It doesn't feel like he wants to, mind you, just a sort of foreboding looming over him."

"That might just be the demon in his belly," Kakashi rudely dismissed.

"Oh, I already know that's the part of him that feeling comes from. So, I really shouldn't worry about that, should I?" she mused, "The demon might be where much of his strength comes from, but the human part which contains it, that is truly strong."

"What's he like when you're together?" the older man pressed.

Calixta blushed a little more deeply, "I don't wish to keep things from you but could we talk about something else?"

"May I ask why?"

"I get a bit…fluttery when I think about him. I still feel so attuned to him that I don't know how much of my emotions he can still feel."

"Do you really think that's possible?"

"He is very sensitive, and felt me from so far before. I know, I know," she gave a dismissive hand motion, "That was an extenuating circumstance…but he hasn't let go like the others have."

"What do you mean, hasn't let go?"

"It's hard to explain. When I lost control, it was like my chakra went out in strings to those who had been receptive to me in the past. Most of those people picked it up, as it were, and followed it to me. Once they all found out what was happening, the string was dropped and the attraction was severed. With Gaara and Kankuro, it was different. Unlike those that came to my house that night, they both endured the link until it gave out on my end. At that point, I assume Kankuro shook it off but Gaara held on. He still does."

"You're saying he's got a hold on you," Kakashi surmised grimly.

She gave a silly little smile, "We have a hold on one another. I can feel some of his emotions too, but he is much better at containing them than I am. Since I have regained my control, I could sever the link if I wanted to. I'd rather not…unless you told me to. It would be very disappointing but I would understand."

"You would understand?" the older man mused.

"That doesn't mean I would try to simply put it on hold for when I was no longer your student," she half-teased.

He gave an impressed nod. "No, I wouldn't ask you to do such a thing. Actually, I think it's a positive step for both of you."

Her silly grin returned, "Oh, we have to talk about something else now or he's really gunna know I was thinking about him," she warned.

"Is that so bad?" Kakashi teasingly prompted.

"Not necessarily. But Baki-sensei already doesn't like me. I don't want to distract Gaara any more than I already do," she admitted.

From there, Kakashi let that go for the time being and changed the subject. He found her string theory to be an interesting analogy for what had happened and her affection was obviously genuine. What really piqued his attention was that she didn't want to let go. Usually, once the purpose had been served, she would have severed the connection. He wondered if it wasn't Gaara's insistence that kept her holding on but it didn't seem to matter. In fact, he was starting to suspect that at the very least, she had a crush on him.

* * *

After that, things were fairly quiet for the next few months. Every few weeks, Calixta would send a care package, as promised, to Gaara. In addition to the two little jugs of milk, she often included a short little note. Once or twice he even scribbled something back to her and smuggled it back with the empties.

Then, one day, he returned to the village of the leaf. Having quickly finished his business, he started toward Calixta's house. Though it had only been a simple messenger mission that he had volunteered for, the fact that he accepted it for the sole purpose of seeing Calixta again meant he had been assigned a partner, his sister Temari. She was almost as annoyed by the assignment as he was to have her tagging along.

"I'm not going to waste time waiting for you," Gaara told her before disappearing in the general direction of the leaf village.

With a groan of frustration, Temari started after him but wasn't able to catch up until he'd been in the village for several hours. As she followed she grumbled, cursing his slight advantage over her, the fact that he never slept.

Having delivered the message, Gaara used his extra time to find his way to Calixta's house.

As he passed one of the food carts that served sake, he overheard someone talking about her, "Yeah, that one. It's Calixta's favorite," he pointed.

Gaara suddenly appeared next to the man at the bar reminiscing about different kinds of alcohol. "You know Calixta," he said evenly.

Master Jiraiya started, "Who are you?" he asked suddenly.

"My name is Gaara. You were speaking about Calixta as though you knew her," he pointed out.

"Oh? Was I?" he feigned innocence.

"You drink with her," the young man continued.

"Is there a point to this?" the older snapped.

"I was curious, does it alter her chakra?" he asked genuinely.

"Why do you ask?" Jiraiya countered.

Before Gaara could form an answer, a little white dog came barreling up to him. It smelled his feet and licked his toes, tickling him. He gave a slight growl of displeasure and it backed off, opting instead for friendly little yaps while dancing about near his feet. Normally, he would have just kicked the damn thing but because of who he was asking about, he decided not to. He didn't want this stranger who apparently knew her to think his violent tendencies had anything to do with her.

"She likes you," Jiraiya commented with a passiveness that hid the fact that his interest had been piqued.

"What is this?" the sand ninja backed away with a confused frown. Ever since he was a child, no animal had ever liked him, let alone approached him so forwardly. They were deterred by the demon inside him.

"There you are!" Temari suddenly accused when she turned the corner to see her brother talking to a strange old man and being badgered by a little puppy dog. "What the hell is going on?"

Gaara rolled his eye at the approach of his sister and teammate and stepped away from the cart in the hope that the little dog wouldn't follow him. He was wrong. He followed him closely and then, to his surprise, when Temari started to try to lecture him about ditching her like that just to see his girlfriend, the puppy dove between them and began to bark and growl defensively at her.

"What the hell is this?" Temari reached down and grabbed the little creature by the scruff of its neck.

Again, before Gaara could answer, someone else showed up.

"Aaah! There you are! Satu!" Calixta turned the corner and gave a horrified gasp at what she saw. "Temari?"

"This your mutt?" she held it out in front of her.

Calixta glared intensely and stormed over, snatching the little pup from the harsher young woman's grasp.

"So…that's your dog?" Gaara finally spoke.

"Yes, she got away from me a few blocks over. I was really worried because she never runs off like that…but now I can see why," she grinned as she soothed her pet.

"Come on, if you already delivered that message, let's go," Temari urged.

Gaara scoffed. "You go now. I'll give you a head start so we get back home at the same time."

"You're staying?" Temari incredulously questioned.

"Did you even read the mission request?" Gaara scoffed again. "I have to take a reply back in about three days."

"Three days?" the blonde sand ninja gasped.

"Do you have room and board yet?" Calixta suddenly asked.

Gaara gave her a sly wink.

"No, we don't have arrangements yet," Temari told her.

"Well, if you go to the training office, about ten blocks that way," Calixta pointed, "they can set you up."

"Good. It's getting kind of late anyway. Come on," she motioned for Gaara to join her but he didn't. "Fine, whatever," she sighed and started off by herself.

Calixta shot Gaara a scolding look but didn't say anything.

"Ah, Calixta-san," Jiraiya suddenly entered the conversation when the commotion passed. "This young man was asking about you," he motioned.

"That's right, I never gave you my address," Calixta mused. "But that's alright, I can show you the way myself," she smiled and took his arm but then she felt the anxiety of both Gaara and Jiraiya so she backed off. "Unless you're busy right now. I can wait," she offered as she pulled away.

The sudden electricity that her touch sent through his nerves made Gaara keep her hand on his arm. "No, I'm not busy." He shot a careful and suspicious look at the older man. "Let's go," he urged.

"Good afternoon, Master Jiraiya," Calixta nodded politely as they walked off.

"You know that man?" Gaara asked knowingly.

"He's a good friend," she nodded confidently.

"How good?" he asked suspiciously.

"Do you really want to know or do you want to see how I try to answer you?" she countered playfully.

"I'll know if you're lying to me," he commented offhandedly.

"Oh? You're that confident? If you are then you might already know the answer to your question. Either way, it won't hurt to tell you that he is a lover as well as a very close friend," she told him frankly.

"He's really old," Gaara told her dismissively.

Calixta just laughed. As she did, Satu tried to sneak from her shoulder over to Gaara's, as they had become close enough for at least an attempt.

"Ugh," Gaara instinctively pulled away, making the pup stumble and whine but she didn't fall off her master. "What is with that dog?" he snapped.

"Oh, it's okay. She just likes you. Is that so bad?"

"It's…weird. Animals don't like me…" he tried.

"Ah, I understand. Well, Satu doesn't think you're so bad." She stopped and guided the creature on her shoulder down into her arms. "Here, would you like to hold her?" she offered.

He gave her an awkward look as he realized that they were drawing a fair amount of attention. He was just reaching out to take the little dog, if only so she would leave him alone about it, when Satu sprung into his arms. Gaara made a small sound of surprise but managed not to drop her.

"There. See? That's not so bad," Calixta half-teased.

"Whatever," he shrugged and started walking again. As he did, he found that the little dog settled down quite quickly to rest contently in the cradle of his left arm, his right once again occupied by Calixta.

When they got to her house and settled down for some tea, Satu still wouldn't leave Gaara's side. "So, what's the deal with your dog? Is it 'cause it's yours?"

"Is what?" she blinked curiously.

"That it likes me," he elaborated.

Calixta smiled. "That probably has something to do with it. Is she bothering you?"

A slight frown played across Gaara's lips. "No," he replied simply, only then realizing that the cuddling creature soothed him slightly. "No, she's fine."

"She's so fond of you because I am," Calixta finally elaborated.

"Really?" he quirked an odd look.

"Really," she assuredly replied.

Gaara pursed his lips for a moment, "Will she bother us if we-uh," he made a vague hand motion.

Calixta smirked. "I don't think so. Actually, she's an excellent guard dog," she winked.

A moment later, Gaara was on Calixta, pinning her to the floor next to the short tea table. She made a small sound of surprise as the wind was knocked out of her and gave the young man above her a dazed look. He grinned and captured her parted lips with his own, noting that the tea was sweeter when he tasted it off her lips.

"So hungry," she gasped from the way he nipped at her lips and greedily groped her curves.

When he opened her shirt, he took a moment to examine her scar. "It's almost gone," he marveled.

"So attentive," she half-joked.

He shot a suspicious look upward and when their eyes met, he could tell something was different. "What are you doing?" he asked carefully.

"What you wanted the last time you were here. I'm telling you what kinds of feelings I get from you. I was too weak even after the drugs started to wear off to do this for you," she told him seriously.

His heart skipped a beat. That was one portion of their last night together that he had almost forgotten. He hadn't asked her to do it because he wanted to hear what she had to say. He asked because he wanted to see if she could do it at the time; it was a test of her intoxication. "Oh? What else then?" he managed.

"I'm surprised you want to hear this…having your feelings put to words makes you very uncomfortable," she replied.

"Then don't tell me," he shrugged. "Like you said last time, we both know how I feel."

She studied him for a moment. "It still makes you unsure. Why would telling you something you already know make you feel that way?" she pressed.

"Hn," he lightly scoffed. "At least I know I can keep some things from you."

She gave a perplexed little laugh in response. "If you're as in tune with me as I think, you should be able to do the same for me," she tried.

He actually took a few seconds to think that over. Sure, he knew how she felt but he wasn't sure he had the words to describe what he was feeling from her. Regardless, he gave it a try. "You're…eager," he managed.

She gave a wide smile. "What else?" she prompted.

"And…giddy," he added, now also perplexed. It wasn't a word he often used but he couldn't think of a better one. On top of that, it wasn't something he had been expecting to feel.

"See? You're better at this than I thought," she half-teased.

"And…I can feel…a strange warmth," he continued.

"And you're getting excited by this," she chimed in.

"You're just antagonizing me now," he pinned her to the floor again with a mischievous grin.

"And you like it," she retorted smartly.

Suddenly, they both burst out laughing. Their laughter only lasted a short while but it was enough to break the tension and give Gaara the confidence to act once again.

"You like being dominant without having to use force," she commented breathily.

He snickered a little at that. It was true but he wasn't sure if he could truly dominate this person. To Gaara, dominance meant being able to do whatever he felt like doing without consequence. At this point in their relationship, he was realizing that if she really didn't want him to do something, he most likely wouldn't or if he did, it wouldn't give him the pleasure he sought.

"Can I hurt you this time? Give you pain? A few cuts and bruises as you gave me last time?" he asked darkly and to his surprise, it caused her pause.

"You wouldn't enjoy that," she managed to answer.

"Oh? Are you sure?" he pressed.

"You can try it, if that's what you really want," she offered but he could sense her reluctance.

He gave her points for being willing to do that for him but he was still a little disturbed by her reluctance, which felt like a wave being held back from crashing on the beach. "Does it really mean that much to you that I don't?" he asked incredulously as he finished undressing her.

"It means a lot to me to be able to give you what you desire…but if I am in pain, we are so close, you will feel it too," she replied carefully.

"Tch, you think I can't handle pain?" he scoffed.

"I know you can…it's just that…I'm not sure if I can. At the very least, it would…give me anxiety that would interfere, even diminish, the lovely feelings we're already sharing."

"You're stronger than you think," he told her evenly, lifting one of her legs to give her a rather hard spank on the meat of her ass.

Calixta yelped and ineffectually jerked away. Her reaction made Gaara smile. Sure, he could feel the stinging he had caused her but the flush that rushed across her body from it more than made up for that. "You're testing me," she gaspingly replied.

"Oh?" he replied distractedly before delivering another spank. He hadn't realized it until she pointed it out to him but in a way, he was testing her limits.

This time, the sound she made was a sharp gasp as she kicked ineffectually to get away from him. She only managed to wiggle around until she was face down, which helped very little for getting away. Being able to sense the lack of conviction behind her attempts to break free made Gaara even bolder, delivering about ten more spanks in roughly the same spot. After that, he felt her wince with a genuine discomfort that threatened to override her pleasure. So, he stopped.

When he relented, Calixta stopped struggling and took a moment to try to catch her breath. "You…stopped…" she panted. It was strange, she knew he had gotten pleasure from the slight bit of pain he had caused her, something that should have encouraged him to continue. She could only reason that he had enough of her energy in his system to counteract that effect, or at least dull it enough for him to let up on her.

"You weren't enjoying it as much," he smugly replied as he leaned down to gently plant a 'get better' kiss on the abused spot, the raised red portions taking on roughly the size and shape of his hand.

She moaned at the small affection and rolled her hips a little. Again, her responses made him bolder. This time, he opened his mouth and bit down hard on the round flesh of her ass. She practically screamed, but it was just as much in ecstasy as it was in pain, possibly more. She was feeling the opposite of the effect that was holding Gaara back; the pleasure he got from her pain spilled a little more into her each time he lashed out at her. He nearly broke skin when he finally let up.

This time, as she caught her breath, Calixta also took a few seconds to look at her lover. When she looked over her shoulder, however, she was not rewarded with her much desired eye contact. He was too busy admiring the perfect teeth marks in her perfect, if rosy, skin.

"You would let me mark you up, wouldn't you?" he inquired almost accusingly.

She felt the threatening tremor in his voice and it made her heart skip a beat. "Only as far as you would," she replied strangely, realizing that soon their energies would reach an equilibrium and that would be the breaking point. Either he would push too far, most likely out of morbid curiosity, and she would have to push him away, or he would let them settle into the rhythm they were heading toward and things would go more smoothly from there.

"So you would then," he surmised.

"Why…I can sense that this fascinates you…please, tell me why?" she had to better understand what she was getting herself into.

He didn't like the idea of having to justify his motives or feelings but in this instance, he felt compelled to at least try to answer her. "I want to see how much pain you can take, how much you can handle before your fragile little body gives out," he taunted.

"But for what purpose?" she nearly pleaded.

The real answer was that deep down, Gaara didn't want to cause her actual pain. He was testing her limits so that once they really got into it, he would know her boundaries. It was a disturbing notion for him because most of the time, in his mind, there were two kinds of people: those who were worth killing and those who were too worthless to care about. This person was not worthless but at the same time, he wouldn't seriously consider killing her.

As these thoughts raced through Gaara's mind, Calixta started to look up at him with wide-eyed astonishment, almost as though she had been slapped in the face. "You're being protective of me," she accused even though she didn't entirely understand what it meant, sitting up so she could face him.

"Protective?" he scoffed. "I just wanna see what you can handle now before I cut loose on you," he teased. "It's not something I want to have to worry about while you're screaming in ecstasy just for me."

His tone, dark but somehow sweet, sent an almost violent shiver through her, and subsequently him. It happened again when his eyes grew wide and he growled with delight.

"Fuck it," he dismissed as he crashed his lips down on hers.

She gave a sharp gasp and wrapped her limbs around him. Her fingers quickly found his short wiry hair, lacing through it and occasionally tugging. Just having their bodies pressed together like that almost made her cum, even though he was still mostly clothed, save his sand armor which actually made him feel more naked then actually being naked.

"You want me to fuck you," he stated arrogantly when their kiss broke.

"And you wanna do it so quit teasing me." She didn't like his tone so she slapped him on the cheek, making sure he couldn't dodge it, if he even would, with the grip in his hair.

A sudden fire welled up in him when she struck him. He growled at her defiance. "If that's what you want," he said after the shock of the slap wore off a bit. Then, he flipped her over onto her stomach again and pulled his pants down. He was in too much of a hurry to take them all the way off. "If you can't take it anymore…" he chided as he entered her.

With as aroused as she was, she knew that he had to be almost painfully hard by the time he penetrated her. She moaned deeply at the purposeful way that he thrust inside her.

"You're so wet already," he marveled when he noticed that as he slid in and out of her, her wetness started to run down her legs.

She actually laughed at his observation. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

When they were like this, he didn't know her any other way. However, it was still amazing to him that she could be so aroused by him. The amount of abandon that she showed when they were together almost made him nervous.

She could sense his impending tension and once she could manage some sense of balance, she steadied herself on her elbows to give herself better leverage to push back. With one hand tightly gripping her hip, he snaked the other up her back, over her shoulder, and around her neck. Carefully, he used that leverage to pull her upright, so that her back was flush with his torso. He could feel her gasps and moans even more intensely now through the thin flesh covering her windpipe.

When he felt her start to grow hoarse from the slight pressure, he moved his hand further over to her other shoulder, so his arm wrapped around her. She practically squealed every time she came and he could feel the ripples of pleasure both physically and through their chakra. Once he was sure of their balance, he moved the hand on her hip around to stroke the hood of her clitoris. The first time he did that, they almost fell over.

It just made him grip her even more tightly as her back arched away from him and before he realized what he was doing, his face was buried in her shoulder and he was nibbling on her sweet flesh. When her muscles started to slacken, he knew she was starting to grow spent and felt justified in letting himself go. He was surprised that he held out as long as he did. The other two times they had been together, he had felt time pressing in on them. This time was different. He wanted to make it last and he found one of the most pleasing things about this encounter would be the opportunity to do just that.

"You're so strong," she marveled, "so sure…"

"You don't give me room for doubt," he replied through gritted teeth.

"I don't want you to doubt," she managed to reply between gasps.

"What do you want?" he rasped into her ear.

"You know what I want," she answered.

"Tell me. I want to hear you say it," he urged.

She gave a fitful moan at his request. Words were nearly beyond her. "I want your pleasure. You feel so deeply and you're willing to share it with me. I have what I want!"

Her answer pleased him greatly and he came inside her a moment later, the snapping crackle in his brain almost ringing in his ears. Seconds later, they were lying panting on the floor. Once reclined, his grip was loose enough for her to turn back around to face him.

"Here," she lifted one of her breasts to his lips because her nipples had started to leak little beads of milk.

He thought about it for a moment. "Not right now," he declined even though he really wanted to.

"Oh? But why?" she frowned.

Gaara gave a mischievous smirk. "I wanna see how big they get if you don't empty'em all the time."

"But they'll start to ache," she complained. "And look, it's already started," she gave a slight squeeze and squirted him a little."

"You can handle it," he dismissed.

"Fine," she pouted and started to redress, dabbing up the little drops of fluid from her skin. "But if you take too long, I won't wait for you. If I don't empty them often enough, the milk runs dry," she advised.

"Oh, I don't expect to have to wait too long," he teased, following suit in redressing.

She gave a playful little glare over her shoulder before ducking into the bathroom. Just as she closed the door, there was a polite little knock on the door. Since she either didn't hear it or wasn't inclined to rush out of the bathroom to answer it, Gaara took it upon himself to do it for her, thinking it would be at least mildly amusing to see the reaction of her visitor.

"Hap-…" was as far as Ebisu got before he noticed the short person on the other side of the door appeared to be the exact opposite of who he was expecting. "What are you doing here?" he suddenly asked. "Where's Calixta?"

"Hn, in the bathroom," he answered simply, examining the package under his arm. It was wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a shiny bow. "I was in town so I thought I'd pay her a visit."

At hearing the two voices, Calixta came out of the bathroom, to see who Gaara was talking to. "Ebisu! Oh, we have a date, don't we?" she fretted.

"A what?" Gaara growled under his breath.

"You see, Gaara here suddenly came into town and it slipped my mind. If you don't mind waiting a minute, I'll be ready to go," she managed.

"You'll what?" Gaara growled again.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll just wait on the porch," Ebisu complied suspiciously but decided not to make a scene because if she was going to come with him anyway, he could ask her about it then.

"You're going on a date with that-that person?" Gaara asked incredulously.

"He's leaving the village for a mission and doesn't know when he's coming back or I'd reschedule," she replied as she gathered her things.

"So that's it? You're just going?" he snapped.

His anxiety caused her to pause. "Would you rather I cancel my date?" she offered seriously.

He could feel the sense of charity behind her offer. "Do whatever you want. I just think you're wasting your time with a nothing like him."

"Thank you. I'll only be gone a few hours. You can stay here if you like," she tried.

"Whatever," he sneered at her and stormed out.

With a sigh of resignation, Calixta finished getting ready and met Ebisu on the porch.

"What's with him?" Ebisu asked before offering up his present.

"What do you mean?" she asked knowingly.

"Why was he in your house answering your door?" he pressed forwardly.

"Because we're lovers," she answered frankly, probing him with her chakra to gauge his reaction. He was obviously displeased but more than that, he was confused.

"That's ridiculous. That kid's dangerous."

"People used to say the same thing about me. In fact, a lot of people still do, I'm sure," she answered.

"Nonsense! He's completely different," he dismissed.

"Look, I've had to justify myself to enough people already. I just want to enjoy our date. Please?" she nearly pleaded.

"Yeah, okay. Forget I said anything," he tried to push it from his mind.

* * *

Gaara left Calixta's house in a huff, annoyed that he came so far to see her only to have her go on a date with someone else. He didn't care if the plans were made before he arrived unannounced or that she promised this was the only engagement she had for while he was in the village. What annoyed him even more was that she offered to cancel her date, once she felt how disappointed he was. Of course, he wouldn't accept such a generous offer; it felt too much charity for his ego and he couldn't handle that. So, she left with the irritating man with the present. The present also bothered him. She seemed to expect nothing from Gaara but the person who had taken her away seemed obligated to give her a gift.

About an hour later, while he was aimlessly wandering the village, his only direction was to make sure he avoided Calixta and her date, he happened upon Sasuke.

"Yo," the dark-haired teen greeted when the short sand ninja slowly approached the cart where he was eating dinner.

Gaara looked over at the voice and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"I thought you'd be with Calixta," Sasuke continued.

Gaara glared weakly.

"You two get into a fight or somethin'?" he pressed.

"No. And what business is it of yours?" the sand ninja finally snapped.

Sasuke took a few seconds to study the strange ninja from another village. "She's with somebody else right now, isn't she?" he guessed.

Gaara's frown deepened.

"I have an extra ramen ticket. You wanna eat?" Sasuke offered with uncharacteristic kindness.

The mention of food made Gaara's stomach growl, making him realize that he hadn't really eaten since before he left home a couple days ago. "Fine," he growled.

"So, did she just ditch you or what?" Sasuke pressed again once the other young man had a nice big bowl of ramen.

Gaara gave a little growl of frustration before answering. "She…had plans already for this evening," he managed.

"Oh? With who?"

"I don't know his name," Gaara snapped again. "Some dork in sunglasses, brought her a present," he added offhandedly.

"Oh, shit," Sasuke quietly swore to himself.

"What?" the sudden expletive threw him off.

"Oh, her birthday's this week. Kakashi-sensei reminded me but I forgot," Sasuke scolded himself.

"Her birthday?" Gaara laughed a little. "So, what are you then? Another one of her lovers?" he accused.

"Lover?" Sasuke actually laughed with incredulity. "Sometimes I wanna blow fire at her until there's nothing left but cinders. No, we train together," he managed.

"Train together?" Gaara scoffed. "That's an interesting euphemism for fucking."

"What makes you so sure we're fucking?" Sasuke asked seriously.

"I can tell," he smugly replied.

"Yeah right," Sasuke dismissed.

"Really, I can," he insisted.

"If you say so," he shrugged.

"You don't believe me. That's okay. It doesn't matter. Either way, I know you're fucking her."

"Okay, say that is what we are doing. What's it to you?" Sasuke countered.

Gaara gave a slight snarl of displeasure. "Nothing," he replied simply.

Sasuke shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we're just screwing for the hell of it. Her abilities require another person to train. That person's me. Screwing is just part of the deal at that point."

The little sand ninja's frown deepened but he didn't reply to that. Actually, he had been wondering if there was someone like that in her life or if she had to just find subjects to practice with on her own. "Whatever," he finally dismissed.

"You shouldn't worry about her being with other people," Sasuke tried.

"I'm not worried," Gaara countered.

"Okay, not worried, disappointed or annoyed or whatever you feel," Sasuke tried again.

"Tch, what do you know?" Gaara nearly growled.

"I'm only the person in this village who probably knows her the best," Sasuke dismissively bragged.

"Oh yeah? If you say so. Is that why you're making this feeble attempt to cheer me up?" he asked darkly.

"I know you came here to see her and now she's off with somebody else. You don't seem like the type to care about that sort of thing but it seemed to be bothering you. I just wanted to let you know that even though she's kind of a slut, it's not like she just goes around sleeping with anybody."

"And you know this because you're her training partner?" Gaara smartly surmised.

"I know a lot more about her than I'd care to because of it," Sasuke admitted.

"Like what?" he challenged.

Sasuke studied his company for another few seconds. "I know she really, really likes you…for some reason," he added with a grumble.

"Oh? Does that displease you?" Gaara asked almost hopefully.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No, I don't waste my time trying to approve or disapprove of what, or who, she does. It's just weird. I wonder if she'd been here when you rampaged through our village and forests, would she still feel that way?" he jabbed.

"I guess we'll never know," Gaara smugly replied. "Did she _tell_ you that she likes me?"

"She didn't have to," he answered.

"Oh? You just knew?" the sand ninja scoffed.

"Well, it wasn't that easy. I asked about you during one of our training sessions. She didn't want to talk about you but I could tell that was why. I think she was afraid of 'calling' you on accident," he replied.

In the time since his last visit, he had occasionally felt Calixta's chakra tugging at his own but it wasn't anything like the force that had drawn him there last time. "She couldn't do that to me again," Gaara vowed.

"Tch, if you say so." Sasuke was silently very grateful that Gaara hadn't been there when the others had gathered. Not only would that have caused a much larger commotion but if he had seen Sasuke there, he wouldn't believe that the dark-haired teen was only there out of curiosity rather than the pull of her attraction. "You're serious," he marveled. "You don't think she can influence you? You're not even trying to resist her chakra, are you?"

Gaara scoffed again, "I don't have to."

"Well, she does have a fair handle on her effect on others…but when she gets attached to someone, that control tends to slip," Sasuke advised.

"I know about her attachment and her control, thank you," Gaara snapped. "Just because you screw around with her and call it training doesn't mean you understand anything."

"It's not just screwing around," Sasuke insisted, slamming his fist on the counter for emphasis.

"Then what is it? What makes you so different?" he demanded.

Sasuke thought for a moment how to answer. "Because I've used her power."

"You? Why?" Gaara seethed.

"She wanted to know what it was like so I used my sharingan to copy her, to show her what it's like to be affected by someone like that," he explained.

"You charmed Calixta?" he incredulously questioned.

"Only for as long as she'd let me or until we're done, which ever comes first," he shrugged. "Once I stop using the copy, the effect is gone."

Gaara eyed his company suspiciously. "You're lying."

"Fine. Don't believe me. It doesn't make a difference either way."

"Then why bother to say it?"

"You're not the only person who feels deeply connected to her and I don't know what she means to you, but I know that you mean a great deal to her. She'd be very disappointed if you let her other relationships interfere with yours."

"I don't need to be lectured by you," Gaara seethed and pushed his bowl away.

Sasuke gave a non-committal shrug and Gaara stormed off. Just as he was starting to push that conversation out of his mind, he happened upon someone else. The face was less familiar than the last one but it was familiar nonetheless. As he walked, Jiraiya matched step with him.

"Good evening, young man," he greeted.

"What do you want, grandpa?" Gaara snapped.

"We didn't get the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves earlier," the older man replied with an almost disgusting level of politeness. "I am Jiraiya. Calixta and I are friends. Since you are apparently a friend of hers as well, I thought we could become better acquainted."

Gaara rolled his eyes and turned the next corner but to his dismay, it didn't dissuade the older man in the least. "I already told you my name, what more do you want?"

"You seem anxious," Jiraiya observed.

The young ninja gave a quick look around to find that at that time of the evening, everyone who was out was too caught up in their own goings on to pay much attention to them. "I don't know how she can do it," he mused darkly.

"What's that?" the older man quirked a curious eyebrow.

"You, really. You're ancient! Can you even get it up anymore, old man? Or does she have to help you?" he taunted.

Jiraiya glared with incredulous shock for a second before bursting out laughing. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? I should have known after you gave Naruto a real run for his money like you did."

"I don't have time for your senile babble," Gaara dismissed and tried to walk away again.

"A real live one you are. I bet that's why she likes you," he mused.

"If you say so."

"What I can't figure out…is what you see in her," he told the young man seriously.

"That's the kind of question I'd expect Kakashi to ask," Gaara countered as he thought of a reply.

"I'm not Kakashi but I'm asking," he pressed.

"She's a healer," he replied simply.

Jiraiya cocked a suspicious eyebrow, sensing the potential double meaning of his words. "If you were simply using her to heal you, she wouldn't be as fond of you," he pointed out.

"What are you, really?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"I told you, I'm a friend of Calixta's," he replied innocently.

Gaara scoffed. "You've fucked'er too," he observed under his breath, then realizing that the older man's ears were still quite good, he continued before the other could speak. "She likes me." When he saw that wasn't quite sufficient to make the other leave him alone, he added, "When I touch her, she trembles but not one little twitch is out of fear," he mused, mostly to himself before really answering. "She doesn't fear me. Even you, someone she calls "Master"…I make you nervous."

Jiraiya smirked at the honest reply in spite of the obvious taunt. "You don't make me nervous right now. I know you won't do anything that might make Calixta think less of you."

Gaara was just about to ask if that was a challenge when Naruto interrupted. He realized that sort of thing was happening a lot lately and it would have been more annoying if it didn't come with another realization, that he hardly ever spoke this much, especially in casual conversation. Normally, he kept his thoughts to himself and others didn't expect him to reply. Being in this village and with Calixta was getting him to open up a bit.

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto came running up. "Where have you been? You were supposed to show me that new technique today!" he whined.

"I'm sorry, I got busy. Come get me first thing tomorrow and I'll take you out and teach you," Jiraiya bargained.

"You're so lazy! You always say you're going to do stuff and then it takes forever to get you to do it!" Naruto complained.

That was about the time that Gaara thought he could sneak off but luck didn't seem to be in his favor that evening.

"Here, why don't you entertain Gaara-san, here," Jiraiya motioned to the short sand ninja. "Show him something fun," he even pulled a few coins out of his purse and gave them to his student.

The bribe was effective. "Okay but I'm still waking you up first thing tomorrow morning and I don't care how hung over you are!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sure you will," Jiraiya wandered off, leaving the two young men together. In his mind, he had given Gaara the perfect chaperone and companion, someone who was a good match for him in a fight who didn't always thinking about fighting him.

"Uh, hey, Gaara. I didn't know you were in town," Naruto managed to greet.

"I'm here for a mission," he dismissed.

"Ah, okay. Have you seen Calixta yet?" the blonde asked hopefully.

"Yes. I've seen her already and we have plans for later this evening so I really don't have time to entertain you," Gaara snapped.

"Aw, but Master Jiraiya gave us this money, we should so something with it first. He's kind of a cheapskate so it shouldn't take too long," he winked.

Gaara almost laughed at the jab toward the older man. Then, something occurred to him. He didn't really have any money. He never had much use for it. As a ninja, his needs were taken care of more often than not and he required very few extravagancies. "Give it to me," he ordered.

"What for?" he curiously asked.

"None of your business," Gaara snapped.

"Fine," Naruto handed over the small pile of coins. Then, when the sand ninja started to walk away with it, he followed.

"What are you doing?" Gaara glared over his shoulder.

Since he was apparently still being acknowledged, Naruto decided to match step with the other young ninja instead of walking behind him. "I'm gunna follow you and see what you spend it on." He knew that would be at least as interesting as doing something together.

Gaara made a quiet sound of irritation and shoved the money in his pocket. "If it was yours, what would you spend it on?" he shifted the focus of their conversation.

"Me?" Naruto laughed, "I'd spend it all on ramen!" he enthusiastically replied, practically drooling at the idea.

Gaara almost smiled and even nearly laughed. Even though it wasn't much money, it could still get him quite a bit of ramen. He would have considered using it to buy them something to eat if he hadn't just gotten done eating with Sasuke.

"What're you gunna buy?" Naruto asked again.

"I haven't decided yet," he admitted, surprised by how long Naruto followed him as he window shopped the market district's closing shops. After over an hour of not buying anything, he turned to the person still walking with him. "I'm gunna go see if Calixta's home yet," he announced.

"Oh…but you didn't buy anything!" Naruto complained.

"Everything's closed," Gaara pointed out.

The blonde frowned. "Okay, fine. G'night."

The dark-eyed teen breathed a sigh of relief that he was left alone with his thoughts as he walked back to her place. He still felt a little jilted by her but after talking to some of her acquaintances, he felt somewhat better about it. The fact that he could sense her chakra on those she spent the most time with was an interesting discovery and, by the intensity with which he felt it, he could tell how close they were.

As much as it bothered him to think about Calixta and Sasuke together so intimately, he could tell the other young ninja was being genuine when he spoke of her. They were deeply connected but the deep feelings they felt for one another weren't exactly affectionate. Then, there was that damned old man. He regretted having approached him in the first place but the fact that he unwittingly provided a few extra coins to buy Calixta a birthday present, made him dislike Jiraiya less. He wouldn't have put much stock on the older man except for the kinds of questions he asked, not to mention the casual way he asked them. Naruto had been his favorite to talk to that evening because while he was generally pretty idiotic, that also meant that he didn't have a tendency to focus on serious topics.

* * *

When he returned that evening, it was just starting to really get dark. He found her sitting on her porch swing with her little dog in her lap and smoking a cigarette.

"Yo," she greeted lazily as he approached.

"How was your date?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"Ebisu is very sweet," she evenly replied but couldn't hold back a slight, whimsical grin.

"What'd he get you?" he continued.

"Oh," she lifted her ankle, "this little bracelet." When she shook her foot, the little bells attached to the thin silver chain jingled lightly.

He gave the accessory an incredulous look. "Do you like that thing?"

"It would be too noisy to wear all the time but it'll be great for when I go out dancing," she answered.

Her reply gave Gaara a slight pang of disappointment. Not only would he have never chosen such a thing to give to her, he had never once in his entire life danced. "You never mentioned it was your birthday," he teasingly chided.

She didn't think Gaara would care about such a holiday. "It's not for another couple days but he's leaving the village tomorrow so he gave it to me early," she explained and then studied him for a moment. "Don't get me anything," she told him.

"I wasn't planning on it," he lied even though she could see right through it.

She let the lie go, knowing that he enjoyed being able to say the complete opposite of what he was thinking and have her know the truth. "Good because having you here is more than enough. Besides, you wouldn't want me to come to your village with presents for your birthday, would you?" she threatened as she put out her cigarette to scoot closer to him.

Just the idea of her showing up like that embarrassed him. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't go shopping again tomorrow. He knew she wouldn't do such a thing to him. "Fine," he agreed. Then, he took a second to look down at her chest. Her breasts were incredibly swollen, the largest he'd ever seen them, and her nipples were starting to harden. "Let's go inside."

She nodded and followed him into her home where he closed and locked the door before turning to face her. When she saw him eyeing her breasts, she smirked. "I hope you're hungry," she teased. Just the thought of him sucking every last drop from her was starting her milk to let down.

The slight flush that decorated her skin as she invited him to take of her made Gaara close the gap between them. With one hand on the small of her back and the other on her left breast, he kissed her and started to lead them back to her bedroom. Once in there, he again closed the door, annoyed that there was no lock. Perhaps that's what he could get her for her birthday.

Regardless, he led her over to the bed where he laid down on his back, pulling her down on top of him and only breaking their kiss for a moment when they landed. With her on her hands and knees above him, he started to massage both her breasts, making sure to tease her nipples, as they were now completely erect and poking out her blouse. He kept that until he could feel her starting to soak through her shirt. Then, without thinking, he moved one of his legs between hers and raised his knee until her crotch rested on his thigh. Shortly after, she was soaking through her panties as well.

The sense of relief that she felt when he finally opened her shirt almost startled him. She sighed slowly and her muscles relaxed as he slid down so that his mouth was even with her nipples, her breasts hanging heavily above him. At first, he alternated squeezing one, then the other, and trying to catch the little spurts in his mouth. Though, not long after she instinctively arched her back, lowering one of her nipples into his mouth.

"You better take all of it," she teasingly snapped when the hard sucking caused her to wince slightly.

His reply was a mischievous look upward as he lightly nibbled on her over sensitive nipple. She squealed and squirmed but not enough to even come close to breaking free of him. When that breast was empty, he moved to the other. As he did, he rubbed his leg between hers, making her moan a little louder.

"This really gets you hot," he remarked in a breathy voice. He wanted to sound more chiding but he just couldn't do it; her pleasure, which washed over him in growing waves, inhibited that tone.

"That depends…on the situation," she replied almost shamefully because she could feel that he wanted to taunt her and couldn't manage it. "With you, you bet your sweet ass it does," she playfully replied.

Gaara smirked and moved on but this time, he moved one of his hands between her legs to start rubbing her through her panties. He didn't realize she was so close to cuming until it happened. Her panties had been wet before, to the point of soaking through but now his fingers were wet. On top of that, as she climaxed, her milk, which was already flowing freely, almost gushed unto his mouth with the spasms that rocked her body.

She didn't bother to count her orgasms, but Gaara tried, if only because every time she came, he felt on the verge of losing himself as well. He thought it was a great testament to his self control that he could hold himself back through her peaks.

Once she was empty, Gaara let his head fall back and rest on her bed, only then realizing that as her breasts became smaller, he would crane his neck to compensate for the difference.

"Good?" she asked with a haughty grin when he saw the pleased smirk on his face.

He nodded and then thought for a second, "Ya know, it's not fair…" he lazily teased.

"Oh? What's that?" she asked curiously as she laid down on top of him, bringing a hand up to run through his wild hair.

"I drink so much of your milk…but you've never drank any of mine," he replied, his eyes half-lidded with mischief and desire.

"I suppose that is something we've overlooked. It's nice to have the free time together to be able to remedy such oversights," she told him slyly as she slid down his body.

"I saved it just for you," he almost growled.

"Oh? Did you now?" she teased back. "That's very sweet of you." She didn't bother to tell him that she had helped him hold back because it seemed to be a point of pride for him. Though, it wasn't just for his benefit. Since Kakashi's birthday, most of their encounters had included him forcing her to exercise control over his orgasms or their encounter would end before she was satisfied.

"I don't know how sweet it'll be," he taunted half-heartedly because she was starting to pull his erection out of his pants.

"Sweet enough," she shrugged, "You should know by now that I am not deterred by a little bitterness. If that was the case, I wouldn't have sought you out before the others came to 'rescue' me from your village and I certainly wouldn't have let you kiss me while you were still unnerved by my power to draw you here."

Gaara wanted to reply, he had an equally antagonizing retort ready for when she finished speaking but when she did, she stuck her tongue out, an action that made his eyes grow wide and his breath hitch with anticipation. Then, when she licked his shaft a moment later, his eyes rolled back and all of his thoughts were gone. If he were to discuss it with Kankuro, he would have been told his brain had leaked out his ear for at least a good five minutes.

When he could finally form a coherent thought, there was only one thing on his mind. He wanted to cum. She could sense him letting go of his desire and allowed him his release, drinking up ever last drop she could get before letting his limp member slide from her lips. As he caught his breath, she snuggled up next to him. Before she realized it, she was drifting off to sleep.

"Hey," he nudged her when he saw her eyes slide shut.

She held him tightly, "Oooh," she almost whined, "I wanna stay up with you but I'm so tired…Just let me rest for a few hours."

Gaara nodded and let her fall asleep. However, it took several attempts at trying to slip away before he actually succeeded because the first few times he tried, she held him tightly, almost protectively, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get away without waking her.

Once he did manage to get away, he redressed and covered her up. He couldn't help lingering for a few long moments to watch her sleep. She looked so peaceful. Hardly anyone had been able to sleep in the same room that he was in, let alone so peacefully.

When he snapped himself out of that, he took the opportunity to explore the rest of her house, eventually ending with her liquor cabinet. It didn't have a whole lot but she did have a few bottles. So, he took the one that looked the least expensive and went for a walk.


	14. Birthday Presents

Gaara rarely drank. In his village, it was extremely difficult for a minor to get a hold of alcohol, let alone drink it unsupervised. Add to that the anxiety most people felt around him and his opportunities for consumption were nonexistent. So, like any teenager with the opportunity, he ceased it. With a bottle of sake in hand, he took to wandering the streets of the Leaf Village.

He had expected a quiet evening. The Leaf Village had a night life but he stayed away from that district. On top of the risk of being caught, it was really of no interest to him. Rather, he stayed to the backstreets and numerous parks throughout the village. Fate seemed to have other plans when he happened upon Lee returning from a mission.

"Gaara-san?" he greeted through the darkness. "What are you doing here?"

"Mission," he curtly replied.

Lee cocked an incredulous eyebrow as he drew closer and saw the bottle in the other young man's hand. "Mission, huh? Is drinking part of your mission," he teased.

"Tch," Gaara scoffed. "No, it's just a perk."

"I don't know what the rules are in your village but here minors aren't allowed to drink," he carefully told the other young ninja.

"I know the rules," he snapped.

Lee frowned. He was aware that Gaara knew very well what he was doing before he asked. He was just hoping to get the sand ninja to at least go inside to drink, rather than do it out in public.

"What're you lookin' at?" Gaara nearly growled. He was feeling a little buzzed, which was pretty good considering how much he'd drank, but with the quantity of healing milk he'd consumed earlier, it wasn't much of a surprise that it would dampen his intoxication. "You're gunna tell on me, or whatever, aren't you?" he demeaningly taunted.

Lee had been considering the best way to do just that because it wasn't like he could force the other young man to stop.

"Hn, you want some?" Gaara offered when he saw the indecision playing across the other's face.

"What? You're kidding," Lee dismissed.

"Unless you can't handle yourself," he taunted.

"That's not the issue here," the taller young man objected.

Gaara scoffed again and turned the corner, hoping to ditch the more obedient ninja. Unfortunately, Lee followed. Apparently, he was going to keep an eye on Gaara. "Either drink with me or don't follow me," he bargained.

Lee considered. "Just a sip," he countered.

Gaara smirked and handed over the bottle.

The taller young man put the bottle to his lips and turned it up but barely any of the liquid touched his tongue. As far as he was concerned, he was just humoring the temperamental sand ninja so he could keep an eye on him. This, however, didn't exactly hold out. It didn't take much more of the other young man's badgering to get him to actually take a couple swallows and they quickly had a situation on their hands.

As they walked, Gaara eyed his company carefully. "You know Calixta?" he assumed.

"Yeah, we train together," Lee smiled.

"Tch, I've heard that before," he scoffed but by this point, he could tell that Calixta and Lee hadn't had sex. "What do you do?"

Both Lee and Gaara expected that if either of them would grow violent, it would be Gaara. That's why when Lee put a little too much force behind a playful shove, Gaara could hardly believe the aggression behind it.

"What the hell was that?" Gaara snapped at the sudden violent shove.

Lee giggled, "Whatever, like you can't take a little shove," he taunted and tried to trip his companion.

"Knock it off!" the shorter teen growled defensively.

* * *

Calixta awoke slowly a couple hours after Gaara left. An indefinable anxiety overtaking her. She could tell something was off, but what? When she realized that Gaara wasn't on her property, she put on a robe, woke her dog, and went looking for him.

"Satu, find Gaara-san, please," she urged the little dog, who readily complied. Since she had to wake the pup to find the young man, her anxiety was slightly eased. If it wasn't enough to wake her dog, it might not be that bad.

She found them a few minutes later in the park not far from her house just as Lee was about to attempt a kick to Gaara's head.

"Stop! Lee!" she yelled, which only managed to distract Gaara and because of this, he didn't dodge the blow.

When the blow made contact, she shrieked and pounced on Lee, pinning him to the ground. "Lee-san, what are you doing?"

"We're just messin' around," Lee slurred.

"You're drunk!" she accused as he pushed her off.

"That's silly," he dismissed. "See?" he made another flying kick but this time, she tackled him before it could make contact.

"You mustn't do this! You have to stop!" Calixta pleaded. This time, she wasn't going to chance him getting away and held him to the ground with every ounce of strength she could muster. When Lee seemed to settle down for a moment, she turned her attention to Gaara. That was when she saw the bottle in his hand and noticed his lazy posture. "You too?"

"What? I didn't do anything. He's the one who started throwin' punches; I didn't even swing back," he defensively shot back.

"That doesn't matter! What were you thinking?" she demanded.

Gaara was speechless. His left eye, and subsequently the tattoo above, twitched with irritation, almost anger. She had never raised her voice at him like that. He couldn't believe the protective way she hovered over the other young man. It sparked the short fuse of rage she'd managed to keep cold for so long but just as he was about to approach, to pull her off of him, she spoke.

"Never mind," she turned back to Lee. "I'm taking you home," she told him forcefully, pulling the stumbling young man to his feet.

"That's where I was goin'," Lee told her seriously.

"Of course," she started to lead him away.

"What about me?" Gaara carefully demanded.

"You know I can't tell you what to do," she replied evenly as they walked away. As she led Lee away, she could feel Gaara's anxiety, but knew there wasn't anything she could do about it.

On their way, she managed to get a fair amount of the story from Lee and realized that it was an honest, if mischievous, mistake. She was almost there when she happened upon Guy. When Neji and Tenten had promptly made it back to their bunks, Lee had yet to appear and it worried their sensei. He was glad he didn't have to go very far to find him but when he saw his condition, he was greatly disappointed.

"Calixta-chan, what happened? You know better than to let Lee-kun drink!" he scolded.

"I take full responsibility," she bowed and told him what she knew.

Once he knew, she could sense his disappointment both in her and his student.

Then, suddenly, Lee had another burst of energy. Unfortunately, they were standing next to a small stand that sold wind chimes and he managed to make quite a ruckus before she could tackle him again. Luckily, no one seemed to see fit to look into the commotion because of it's brevity.

"Lee-san, please. You mustn't," she pleaded, holding him close in hopes of physically containing him as well as pushing her charka on him to help calm him.

With those actions, Guy could tell just how sorry she was, even though it was hardly her fault. Even so, he was incredibly annoyed.

"I was just taking him home," she told the sensei.

"I'll take'im," Guy offered.

"No, really. Let me do this," she almost pleaded.

"I'll go with you." He helped her carry his student back to his bunk. To his surprise, once they got him tucked into his bed, she pulled up a chair and sat down. "You're staying?"

"Just for a bit, if that's alright. I want to make sure he's okay," she didn't take her eyes off the dozing young man.

"I don't think that's necessary," Guy coaxed.

Calixta shot him an unsure look but stood. She could tell Guy didn't want her to stay and she was in no position to argue with him.

After she followed him outside, he turned to her. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"After what happened, it's the least I could do. Really, if I'd've known something like this would have happened-" she tried again to manage an apology without actually saying she was sorry.

"Never mind. You're not responsible for either of them and if Lee wasn't so volatile after a few drinks, it wouldn't be a problem," Guy managed.

As far as she was concerned, it was a problem regardless of Lee's reactions to liquor. "I'll be more careful in the future," she vowed.

"Is Gaara staying with you?" Guy pressed.

"I know having him at my place isn't the best idea but it's not like he sleeps. He has no use for the room and board offered to his sister, or any other visitor for that matter. I thought it would be…insensitive to try to make him stay cooped up in one of those places as though he was like everyone else."

"If you don't want him there, I can help you ask him to leave," Guy offered.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't dream of it. I say it's not the best idea, but when I do, it's looking from the perspective of everyone else."

"And from your perspective?"

"Honestly, I can't think of a better place for him to spend his free time while he's here. You may find this difficult to believe but I like having him around. Besides, he likes staying with me."

"You don't think, even after this, that he might need a little more…supervision?" he tried.

"And who would supervise him?" she countered.

Guy sighed with resignation. It seemed she'd picked up some of Kakashi's stubbornness. "Okay, I see your point." He turned to walk away and then turned back. "Take good care of him. Good night."

* * *

When Calixta returned to her house, Gaara wasn't there. She took a moment to feel him out, which at this point only took minimal effort. She considered trying to draw him back to her but reconsidered and sought him out herself, leaving Satu behind. By the time she caught up with him, he was on the edge of the forest.

"Gaara!" she called to him as she approached.

He stumbled at the sound of his name. He was so disturbed by how she reacted to him earlier, that he had consumed much of the remainder of the bottle he had taken earlier that evening.

His misstep made her quicken her pace. "Now you're drunk," she told him with an exasperated sigh once she got a good look at him.

He sneered and looked away, continuing into the woods.

"Where are you going?" she pressed.

He didn't answer.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" she hurried to match step with him again.

"You know I can't ignore you," he slurred under his breath.

Calixta made a small sound of disappointment. "At least tell me where you're going," she pleaded.

"Nowhere," he snapped, turning to glare intensely at her.

Sensing the distance he was trying to force between them, Calixta stopped walking with him. "I've been there before," she quietly muttered.

Gaara stopped a few steps later. "Don't pity me!" he yelled back at her.

She wanted to tell him that she didn't pity him but the feelings she had were close enough that she knew he couldn't tell the difference. "It's not a big deal. I took Lee home and put him to bed," she tried.

"Only after you saw his sensei," he snapped back.

"You were following us?" she almost gasped. She had been so caught up in managing Lee and cutting off any negative feelings the incident had given her that she didn't notice him tracking them. "Either way, it's no big deal. Even he said there was no harm done."

"You covered for me," he seethed. "You told him it was your fault." He hadn't heard their entire conversation, only the part where she took full responsibility for what happened.

"Does it matter? I gave Guy someone to blame, that's all. I don't really think it's anyone's fault," she reasoned. "Lee just gets a bit carried away when he drinks. You had no way of knowing that."

Gaara scoffed and started to walk away again.

His insistence to drunkenly sulk aggravated her more than anything. "Don't walk away from me!" she yelled and without thinking, focused her chakra on him, making him stop.

"Let me go!" he demanded.

Defiantly, she walked around to face him, forcing eye contact. "Why do you feel so bad about this?" she demanded.

Instead of answering her, Gaara tried to break eye contact. Had he not been intoxicated, he would have had a much easier time of it. As it was, the action took significant effort but when he forced his eyes away, he also managed a side-step.

The force it took to break her hold caused her to stumble slightly. "Answer me!" she demanded again.

"I don't have to answer to you!" he argued and continued to stumble away.

"No you don't _have _to, but I was hoping you would," she managed.

When he didn't answer to that, she tackled him to the ground.

"You crazy bitch! Get off me!" he struggled and dislodged her.

"No!" she caught him again and this time wrapped her arms tightly around his torso.

"What the hell's the matter with you!" he tried to push her off.

"I won't let you run away from me!" she yelled into his chest.

"I don't run from anybody," he growled.

"Gaara, please," she pleaded as he fought to get away from her.

"Get off me! Go away!" he ordered.

His order to go away made her falter and she lost her grip, allowing him to escape. "Please, Gaara! I-" she stopped herself before she said anymore but her sudden stop caused him pause.

"You what?" he prompted forcefully.

"Never mind, just go if that's what you really want. I won't try to stop you."

"What were you going to say?" he demanded.

"You don't want to hear it. Just go," she stood and started to walk away.

Unnerved by the omission, Gaara clumsily rushed up behind her. "Tell me what you were going to say," he demanded in a dark voice.

Calixta gave a sigh of resignation and turned to face him. "Gaara, I think I'm falling in love with you," she told him in a trembling voice.

Gaara's eyes grew wide, almost with horror at her words. "You really are crazy," he dismissed.

At that, she slapped him. "Don't pretend like you don't feel it!"

"You can't love me! No one loves me!" he retorted after the shock of the slap wore off.

"That doesn't mean you're unlovable," she managed.

"Yes I am," he scoffed. "Don't you have any idea what I've done? What I could do?" he threatened.

"I know well enough," she answered. "And don't you think people have said the same things about me?"

"You're different. Everyone likes you," he dismissed.

"Never mind what everyone else thinks or what they like. They don't matter," she tried but when she felt like she wasn't getting through to him, she sighed. "Whatever. I'm sorry I said anything," she slouched and turned away, starting to walk home. "Just forget it."

Of course, he couldn't just forget it. He had felt her affection from the first time they met and felt it grow ever since, almost exponentially since his last visit and then even more since he arrived this time. It had just been so long since he'd felt love from another that he didn't recognize it. "You don't know what you're saying!" he accused.

"I know perfectly well what I'm saying. Maybe you don't! Maybe you're too drunk," she barely scoffed. She was on the verge of tears and felt the stinging tingle in her throat as she tried to bite them back.

"You really think you love me, don't you?" he weakly accused, calling after her.

The accusation made her stop. "Don't mock my feelings!" she shouted. "Just because you don't understand them doesn't make them any less real. Besides, I said I was falling in love with you. I don't love you just yet."

Her correction made him falter slightly but what really caused him pause was the tone in her voice and the way it reflected the pain he felt from her. "What is this? Don't make me feel this way!"

"If you don't want to feel what I do, then stop holding on. Let go of my chakra and never look at me again!" she told him bitterly, no longer able to control her tears. "The feelings will fade quickly enough." Then, she started to walk away again, this time determined not to stop.

That's when he decided to follow her. "You don't want me to let go," he nearly awed.

Once he was beside her, she turned away, keeping her determined pace. Of course she didn't want him to let go. Suddenly severing such a deep connection would devastate her in ways she couldn't imagine.

Gaara's frown deepened. The fact that she wouldn't look at him really bothered him so he brought a hand to her chin to try to turn her face. If she wouldn't make eye contact, at least he could see her expression. As it was, with how she was turned and the way her long, dark hair hung down, he couldn't see any of her face.

This time, Calixta wasn't up for giving him what he wanted. She jerked to the side and violently pushed his hand away but didn't say anything. However, his slight touch revealed more than she hoped. He could feel the wetness on her face from the tears she didn't bother to wipe away.

The idea that he had caused her to cry almost made Gaara's heart skip a beat, then the idea that he cared so much about such a thing almost made it stop entirely. "Hey," he quietly interrupted the silence, this time placing a careful hand on her shoulder. With that, he could feel the tension in her muscles.

She almost trembled at his touch and screwed her eyes shut. "What?" she quietly snapped.

Her tone made him withdraw. He didn't know what to say. Then, suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed her, turned her to face him, and kissed her hard on the lips.

She made a muffled sound of surprise but quickly gave into the affection, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close so he wouldn't suddenly pull away. The suddenness of his kiss and the wave of emotions he poured upon her momentarily broke her self control and she worried that it would overwhelm him or at least make him second guess himself.

Quite the contrary, he pulled her to the ground and held her tightly.

"Ah," she gasped, breaking their kiss. "Gaara!"

"What? What's the matter?" he breathily asked.

"N-Not here, please," she pleaded when he tried to lay her down.

He appeared disappointed but complied. She had to help him to his feet.

"Come on, let's go back to my place. I'll make you some coffee," she led him to her home.

He nodded and they walked arm in arm back to her house.

* * *

"So…did you really mean that, what you said about how you feel?" he asked carefully as she poured him a cup.

"Don't ask stupid questions," she curtly replied. She was tired and after all that, some of his rudeness was starting to rub off on her.

"I didn't realize…" he stared into his cup.

She shot him an incredulous look from across the short tea table. "You didn't realize? Or you didn't want to?"

"I-I don't know…" he honestly admitted and his honesty seemed to please her more than anything.

She smiled gently at him. "I really mean it. I wouldn't say it if I didn't," she confirmed. "I don't want to mess with you or control you or anything. I just want you. Whoever that person happens to be, whatever they've done, all that…is what makes you the person you are and that's the person I'm falling for. I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, or makes you think I'm crazy, or whatever," she tried to explain.

Gaara shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden outpouring. "I-I don't know how I feel about you," he admitted.

Her smile widened. "I know, that's okay. That's why I didn't want to tell you how I felt. I don't want you to feel obliged to feel the same way."

"I don't feel obligated to you," he dismissed.

She took a moment to feel him out, to verify what he said and was surprised and pleased to find he was being genuine.

"So…now what?" he asked when he finished his first cup and started pouring a second, feeling much more lucid.

"You're asking me?" she almost giggled. "I'm as new to this feeling as you are."

"You're kidding," he scoffed.

"You know I'm not. You're the first person who's made me feel this way," she admitted bashfully.

"I know you're being honest…but it's still hard to believe," he managed.

She blushed. "I hardly believe it myself…and I doubt anyone else would believe me."

Gaara laughed at that because he knew how right she was. He had so many questions, like what she saw in him that no one else seemed to or why she put up with so much crap just for him, but it was late and she was starting to doze off even as they spoke. So, instead of asking his many questions, he opted instead to rest her head on his shoulder and run his fingers through her long, dark hair until she was sound asleep, at which point, he put her to bed.

* * *

They had sex the following morning but Calixta wouldn't let him drink from her breasts because of her regular clinic appointment. She smiled as he lazily laid naked in her bed, alternating between watching her get ready for her day and staring out the window.

When he wasn't paying very close attention to her, she scooped up his clothes. "I'll be back in a little while," she assured.

As she walked out of the bedroom, he noticed his clothes in her arms. "Hey, what are you doing with my clothes?" he sat up.

"They're filthy. You haven't changed or washed them since you left home, have you?" she playfully accused as she left the room.

"So? What's that got to do with you?" he started after her.

"I'm going to wash them," she replied simply as she grabbed her purse and quickly headed for the door.

"You're what? Then what am I going to wear?!" he demanded as he tried to catch up with her but she was already on her way out the door.

"I have boys' clothes in one of my bottom drawers if you want to get dressed in the meantime," she ducked out the door.

Gaara yelled with frustration as he poked his head out the door, "You have no right to do this!"

She pretended not to hear him.

"Get back here! Right now!" he continued to shout but to no avail. In a rage, he slammed the door almost hard enough to splinter it. Because he didn't want to just sit around her house naked, he went to her dresser and started to look for something that might fit him.

Luckily, they were about the same size and the clothes he found actually fit quite well. A few minutes later, he settled on a white t-shirt and black track shorts. The only issue was that she obviously had wider hips than he did, so he had to make sure the shorts had a draw string so he could secure them around his hips. He had intended to go out that day but his embarrassment at having to wear her clothes kept him inside. Had he gone out, he would have avoided a meeting with Kakashi. As it was, he was the only one there when the sensei came knocking

He didn't want to answer the door when he first heard the knock but when he peeked out to see who it was, he knew he should answer or the man outside might just enter anyway. So, he opened the door but only enough to poke his head out.

"Ah, Gaara-san," Kakashi greeted as pleasantly as he could. "Is Calixta home?"

"No, she's out, said she'd be back soon," he curtly replied.

Kakashi thought for a moment. Calixta was usually back from her appointment by this time. "May I come in and wait for her?" he carefully pressed.

Gaara rolled his eyes. He wanted to just tell the older man to go away but he knew better than to turn away her sensei. "Fine," he opened the door and let him inside.

Kakashi wasn't surprised that Gaara wasn't inclined toward casual conversation. He was, however, surprised to find him wearing something other than his usual clothes. As he waited, he put on a pot of tea and when the silence became too awkward, he spoke. "Were you aware that today is Calixta's birthday?"

"She didn't mention it," he feigned ignorance. Though he knew it was soon, he wasn't aware exactly which day it was.

"She'll be twenty-two," he informed. Since she had only just come under his tutelage shortly before her twenty-first birthday, which was usually cause for great celebration, it had been largely overlooked.

Gaara shrugged to disguise his surprise. He knew she was older than him but he hadn't realized she was nearly a decade his senior. Not that age seemed to matter to her, so he tried not to care.

"You two seem to be getting along very well," Kakashi commented. "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

The teen didn't answer so Kakashi stopped trying. Luckily, they were rescued from the awkward silence a little while later when Calixta returned.

"Gaara!" she called when she entered but the first person she saw was Kakashi. "'Kashi-sensei? Did I forget something?" she tried not to worry as she went through her mental list of thing she was supposed to do.

"Not at all," he eased. "I came to wish you happy birthday and Gaara-san here was nice enough to let me in to wait for you to return. What's that package? Another present?" he asked curiously as he approached his student.

She laughed a little, "No, these aren't mine." Then, she made her way over to the table where Gaara was seated. "There ya go, nice and clean," she winked as she handed over his clothes, which were wrapped in brown paper from the cleaners.

He shot an irritated look at her as he snatched them away, storming off to the bathroom to change back into his usual clothes.

"I was wondering why he was wearing your clothes," Kakashi quietly mused.

"I thought he should look nice for when we go out tonight and I know he wouldn't let me buy him something new so I sort of snatched his clothes this morning to have them cleaned," she admitted.

"So you do have plans for tonight. When I asked him, he didn't answer," he mused.

"Well, I haven't exactly asked him if he wants to go out yet," she blushed.

"You don't think he'll want to?"

"I'm not sure what he'll want to do," she admitted. "But never mind that, what really brings you here?"

Kakashi smiled. "I realized that you haven't gotten any new clothes yourself since you moved to our village. I was hoping that for your birthday, I could take you shopping. Perhaps you could get something nice for your date tonight?" he suggested.

"You don't have to do that. I have plenty of things to wear," she blushingly dismissed.

"But all of it's entirely too functional," he teased.

She smiled. "Yeah, okay," she agreed, sensing his insistence.

"Good, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer," he teasingly replied.

"Alright. I know there's no arguing with you. It's almost as useless as arguing with Guy-sensei." They both laughed at that. "This afternoon?" she proposed.

"That would be perfect. I have a few things I need to do before then anyway. Would you like me to pick you up?"

She thought it over for a moment. "Why don't I meet you at the market? I'd like to have lunch first but I'm not sure what we're doing," she answered just as Gaara appeared, obviously more comfortable in his own clothes.

"Sounds like a plan, see you later," Kakashi waved and showed himself out, forgoing their customary good bye kiss because of Gaara's presence, even if it was only a peck on the cheek.

"Another date?" he sniped when the older man left.

Calixta shot her guest a mischievous look. "Not with him. Sensei and I don't go on dates. It would be highly improper."

"Tch," he scoffed. "With you, I'm not sure there is a _proper_," he taunted.

She smiled because he was in a feisty mood, which she could only assume was because she stole his clothes earlier.

"So, who's your date tonight?" he pressed, trying to keep the undertone of jealousy from his voice.

"Oh, I don't even know if I have a date tonight. He hasn't asked me and, quite frankly, I'm not sure how to ask him," she admitted.

"Like anybody could say no to you," he continued to scoff. "If you really wanted a date, you'd get it," he accused.

"I'm glad you have so much confidence in me," she teased, pouring herself a cup of tea from the remaining hot water that Kakashi had started.

"So, who is it?" Gaara pressed again.

"You really wanna know?" she taunted.

"Yes, really," he dryly answered, trying to keep his temper in check.

"Really, really? Or are you just jealous?" she continued. "It would be very silly of you to be jealous."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know. If you don't want to tell me, fine, don't! Just don't be a bitch about it!" he was starting to lose his temper with her and the accusation of jealousy, however true, was wounding to his pride.

"You're not still mad that I took your clothes to have them washed, are you?" she asked with mock carefulness.

"Fine, don't tell me. I don't really care," he snorted. "And no, I'm not mad, I'm just annoyed. You should have asked before stealing my things," he snapped.

"You're right. I should have asked first," she admitted. "I just thought you might want to look nice if you decided to take me out for my birthday," she suggested.

"What?" His anger immediately dissipated.

"It's you. I want a date with you," she stated. "I'll understand if that makes you uncomfortable…but I just thought that since we've never really been on a date, it might be nice."

"Me?" he incredulously questioned.

"If you don't want to, that's fine," she covered. "We can stay in tonight, if you like," she offered instead.

"No, we can go out," he managed, only then realizing that it would be his first date, official or otherwise. With that realization, it also dawned on him that she had been a lot of his firsts: his first kiss, his first sexual partner, the first person outside his family who had shown any sort of concern for his well being, and now his first date. The thought made him a little nervous.

Calixta could sense his nervousness and gave him an odd look but decided not to question it this time. "Come on, let's get some lunch. I hate shopping on an empty stomach," she joked.

With a grumble, Gaara agreed.

It was just ramen but she didn't want to have too much so she could enjoy their dinner as much as possible. Unfortunately for Gaara, it was also the ramen cart that Naruto and Jiraiya were having their lunch.

"Hey! Have a seat!" Naruto greeted as they approached. To his surprise, she waited for a nod of approval from Gaara before taking a seat.

They had pleasant conversation while they ate and Gaara was polite, even if he only offered the occasional minimal responses. Then, a little over an hour later, Calixta asked for the time.

"Oh dear, I should probably go," she stood and pushed her stool in.

"Where ya headed?" Jiraiya pried.

"Kakashi-sensei is taking me shopping for my birthday," she told them bashfully.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll get you something very sexy," Jiraiya teased.

Calixta blushed, "Please, you're embarrassing me."

"Oh, you're so coy," the older man taunted.

"Oh, knock it off," Naruto shoved the old master. "Stop being such a perv!"

As they bickered, Calixta promised to be back at her house in time to go out to dinner with Gaara. Then, she was off to the clothing district of the market.

"So, you got a birthday date with Cali-chan?" Jiraiya teased.

"What's it to you, old man?" Gaara snapped, causing Naruto to snicker.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just curious. Hey, what'd you two spend that money on last night?" he redirected.

Gaara didn't answer.

"Nothin' yet," Naruto answered.

"Oh? Have plans for it then?" he proposed.

Gaara still wasn't inclined to answer, leaving Naruto to field this question as well.

"Haven't decided yet," the blonde managed.

"Well, you better get to it," the older man suggested, "Or I'll be inclined to take it back," he warned before walking away.

"Well, you heard the man, we should get spendin'," Naruto suggested, hopping off his stool.

Gaara grumbled.

"What's the matter? Don't know what to spend it on? I'm sure we could find something," Naruto chided.

The sand ninja frowned as he stood. "I have an idea…" he tried, in an effort to get the other off his case.

"Oh, what's that?" the blonde pressed as he followed.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Gaara sneered.

"'Cause I gotta have something to tell Master Jiraiya when he asks what we spent that money on," he replied childishly.

"Can't you just make something up?"

"I'm not a very good liar," Naruto admitted.

"So, you're just going to follow me around again until I find something to spend it on?" he assumed.

"Pretty much," he gave a wide smile.

Gaara gave a defeated grumble.

"So…what are you looking for? Maybe I could help," the blonde offered.

After about half an hour of window shopping, Gaara admitted his motive, "It's Calixta's birthday."

"Ah! You want to get her a present! That's a great idea!" Naruto celebrated.

The sand ninja made a quiet sound of irritation at the other's enthusiasm, the urge to at least punch him in the face welling up inside him.

Seeing the anxiety on Gaara's face, Naruto continued, "You don't know what to get her, do you?" he playfully accused.

That accusation was the last straw. Gaara turned to the one following him so intently and shoved him hard against one of the buildings, "Damn it! Why can't you just leave me alone! You're so fucking annoying and you have no idea what you're babbling about!"

"Whoah! Hey, settle down!" Naruto raised his hands and waived them in a gesture of innocence.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Gaara pressed harder, barely suppressing the sand that seemed to want to flow out of his gourd.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry…but people are starting to stare. Would you mind letting me go?" Naruto tried.

Gaara looked around to find that the blonde was right. With a grumble, he released the blonde.

"Look," Naruto tried, this time in a more serious tone, "I know Calixta pretty well, I could help you find something for her," he offered.

Gaara rolled his eyes and then took a moment to study his companion. He could tell there was a certain amount of sexual tension between his potential love interest and the rambunctious blonde, but that was it. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed, if only because he had no idea what to get himself.

As they walked, Naurto made suggestions. "What about flowers? I always see her looking at flowers and girls love to get flowers," was his first try.

Gaara glared at the flower vender. "I…" he stopped himself. He didn't want to give Calixta something that was killed in order to become a present. "Too cliché," he dismissed.

"Okay…" Naruto shrugged because he hadn't expected his first suggestion to be heeded. They walked a little further and when they reached another gift shop, he offered another suggestion, "What about perfume? Chicks love perfume."

The shorter teen rolled his eyes. "That implies I don't like the way she smells," he dismissed again.

The blonde smiled a little at the implication.

"Besides, that shit gives me a headache," he walked away from the stand.

To his surprise, when they happened upon a jewelry shop, Gaara actually went inside. Most of the things inside were terribly expensive, which disappointed him because of his limited funds. He watched as the sand ninja glared at the case of rings, dawdled at the bracelets, and finally stopped at the necklaces. He only stayed there for a moment before going back to the bracelets, paying special attention to the charms.

There was one in that case that caught his attention, a little charm, less than a centimeter in diameter.

"See somethin'?" Naruto carefully pried.

Gaara didn't answer immediately but he did eventually answer, "That one," he pointed down at a little silver charm that was shaped in to the same character on his forehead. There were several like it but this one had a little red stone set in the center that caught the light in a way he found oddly pleasing.

Naruto nodded. "You might even have enough for it."

Gaara reached into his pocket and mentally counted the coins. The money given to them by Jiraiya combined with the few coins he'd managed to pick up in the last day was a little more than the cost of the charm.

Carefully, the shopkeeper approached. It was an older woman with a friendly face. "Can I help you young men?"

Since Gaara was staring intently at the little charm, Naurto answered, "Maybe, we're shopping for a birthday present."

"Let me look at this one," Gaara ordered, pointing again at the charm.

"One of my favorites," she cautiously informed as she pulled it from the case and set it on top of the glass. She was about to say more about it but then she noticed the character on his forehead and it made her stop.

"I want to buy it," Gaara informed curtly, not taking his eyes off the trinket.

"Very good," the woman nodded. "Do you need a chain to go with it?"

Gaara thought for a moment. His answer was to look at some of the chains available for sale. He had hesitated at the idea of getting her any sort of jewelry because of the gife Ebisu had given her a piece of jewelry. He quickly passed over the shorter bracelet chains because that would be too similar. That left him with the longer necklace chains.

Most of those were thin and delicate, something he didn't really like. When his eyes found one of medium thickness, his frown deepened. It cost more than he had. So, he moved back to the bracelet chains. He could afford one of the finer chains there but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted something long and sturdy.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked carefully.

Gaara pursed his lips and moved back to the necklace chains. "I want that one," he pointed, "but I don't have enough," he grumbled.

"Young man," the woman warily broached, "Who are you shopping for?" In her opinion, the chain didn't really match the charm but she got the impression that her customer didn't want her opinion.

Gaara didn't hear her, he was too busy considering ways to steal the object in question.

"It's for Calixta-san. Today's her birthday," Naruto quietly answered, fearful that breaking the other's concentration might cause him to lash out.

"Ah, I see. She's a lovely young woman," the woman nodded and turned back to Gaara. "Tell you what, I'll sell you that chain at a discount if you do me a favor," she bargained.

Gaara looked up with surprise. "What kind of favor?"

"You see, the storehouse behind my shop is used by many of the food vendors to keep their extra supplies and it has a small rat problem. Normally, this wouldn't be a concern for me, since the rats aren't as interested in jewelry as they are the sacks of grain, but occasionally one slips into my shop and they tend to offend the delicate sensibilities of my customers. It's bad for business. If you take care of the rats, I'll sell you the charm and the chain for what you have," she explained.

"Deal," Gaara curtly replied.

"Finally," the woman sighed with relief. "But you better get rid of every last one or the deal's off," she warned almost playfully.

Gaara didn't answer. He turned on heal and went to the store house.

"Thank you," Naruto gave a slight bow.

"An unusual friend you have there," the woman commented once Gaara was gone.

Naruto laughed. "That's an understatement."

"That look in his eyes worries me…but he likes Calixta and she's good people, so he can't be all bad," she reasoned. "Should I gift wrap these things?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," he smiled gratefully. "I'm sure he won't be long."

"I didn't think so, but a pest is a pest and I already had one woman run screaming from my shop today and just as I was about to make a sale, too," she grumbled. "You go keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't miss a single rat," she told him.

"Yes, m'am," he bowed and followed his companion.

Exterminating the rats took a bit of time but minimal effort. When they returned, the charm and chain were in a little box wrapped with red paper and a sparkling silver bow.

"I hope she likes your gift," the woman prayed as she took his coins.

Gaara only nodded as he shoved the present into his pocket and left.

"Thanks again!" Naruto called as he followed.

"Can you _please_ leave me the hell alone now?" Gaara growled once they were back on the street.

"Sure thing. Thanks for letting me tag along," he smiled.

"Like you gave me a choice," the shorter teen grumbled.

"I think she'll really like it," Naruto added.

"I don't care what you think," Gaara snapped and walked away. He breathed a sigh of relief that the blonde didn't follow him.

* * *

Calixta returned later that afternoon, arms full of bags. "Sorry I left so suddenly after lunch," she apologized as she headed to her bedroom to put her new things away. "I hope you weren't too bored."

"I was fine," he curtly replied.

She emerged a few minutes later and made them some tea. They talked for a little while before she stood again. "Well, I'm going to get ready for our date," she winked over her shoulder at him and sensed his slight shiver at the action.

"Not so fast," he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his lap where he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forcefully. He grinned when she moaned into the affection and moments later, they were coupling on the floor. Only when he was satisfied with that did he let her go get ready.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, Gaara reclined on her couch and listened to her. He heard the shuffling of clothes from her bedroom, a few little clicks and clinks and the sound of a spray bottle from the bathroom, and throughout the light sound of her humming a happy little tune he'd never heard. The humming tickled his ears and made him smile in secret. He made sure to quell his grin when he heard her emerge.

"Okay, I'm ready," she announced hopefully.

Gaara rose to look and was stunned at what he saw. Every other time he'd seen her, she wore simple clothes, long modest dresses. This number was much more flattering. It was black satin that came down almost to her knees, with thick shoulder straps, which he saw cris-crossed down her back when she spun around. He particularly liked the plunging neckline, that showed off her cleavage and the similar design that showed off her bare back, accented by the straps that crossed and joined at her hips. Just as stunning was the way she had her hair curled in a messy pile on her head, a few locks left to dangle over her right shoulder.

"Perfect," he replied when he made it to his feet, reveling in her beaming smile. "Well, nearly," he retracted off handedly.

"Oh? What's missing?" she fretted as she looked herself over.

Gaara smirked and reached into his pocket as he walked around behind her. Before revealing his surprise, he took a moment to run his fingers over the soft skin of her back. Then, he wrapped an arm around her waist, presenting the little gift in his open palm.

"What's this?" she incredulously questioned as she took the little present.

"Just a trinket," he dismissed.

She shot an unsure look over her shoulder, "I told you not to get anything," she reminded.

"Did you? I'm a terrible listener," he feigned innocence, and poorly at that. "Open it," he urged.

She complied, untying the bow with so much care that she could tell it unnerved him. Then, instead of ripping open the paper to find the treasure inside, she tied the bow around her right shoulder strap as a decoration. Only then did she carefully tear the paper, revealing the jewelry box inside.

Impatient, Gaara snatched the wrapping paper from her hand, crumpled it and threw it in the general direction of the wastebasket, immediately turning his attention back to her just in time for her to open the box.

"Oh my! This is lovely!" she awed, drawing the item from the box by the chain to hold it in front of her face. "You really shouldn't have," she blushed.

"Don't worry about what I should and shouldn't be doing," he dismissed, taking the necklace from her hand and carefully securing it around her neck before moving back around to face her. He couldn't help smiling at the way the little charm sat over her heart, just above her cleavage. "Come on, let's go," he took her by the hand and led her out, barely giving her time to grab her purse on the way.


	15. Sharing

Calixta led them to a small street café, saying it was one of her favorites. They ordered and were enjoying their drinks when Temari passed by. She shot them a sideways glance but didn't bother them.

"Tch," Gaara scoffed.

"You think she's checking up on us?" Calixta assumed.

"What else would she be doing? It's the reason she was sent with me. Normally, this would have been a solo mission," he explained.

"Ah, I see. How unfortunate for her," Calixta smirked.

"What do you mean, for her?"he nearly snarled.

"She must be terribly bored," she laughed just as she noticed someone else.

"Why are you so concerned about her?" he rolled his eyes.

"Just a moment," she stood.

"Hey, where're you going?" he demanded quietly.

"I'll be right back, I promise," she blew him a kiss.

Gaara grumbled as he watched her approach another young man. Someone he recognized the sight of but whose name he couldn't recall. She returned, as promised, a minute later and watched the young man she was talking to walk off in the same direction as his sister. "What was that all about?"

"That was Shikamaru. I don't much care for him myself but I know he has a slight fancy for your sister. He should keep her entertained, at least for this evening," she mused.

Gaara smirked at her mischief. "I thought you liked everyone," he teased.

She laughed, "Then you were mistaken. Don't get me wrong, we get along well enough. He's lazy, that I can handle, but I don't much care for his attitudes toward women," she explained.

"Men who have attitudes like his are likely intimidated by women," Gaara commented. "I bet he's just scared of being overwhelmed by beauty."

Calixta smiled a little, "I believe that was a compliment."

Gaara gave a noncommittal shrug.

"You know, I don't generally like getting compliments," she commented.

"Then it wasn't a compliment," he replied evenly.

"Actually…I was just thinking…it doesn't sound so bad coming from you," she mused.

"Oh? And why's that?" he curiously pressed.

"Because usually, I'm paid compliments because the person paying them is smitten by some…" she searched for the right word, something not too demeaning but that would convey her distaste.

"Physical trait," he finished for her.

She nodded. Not the term she would have chosen, but it was fitting. "Or morbid curiosity."

"And you think I'm different?" he scoffed.

"I know you are," she corrected.

"And what makes you so sure?" he coyly prompted.

"Oh? I'm surprised you ask. It seems unlike you to fish for compliments," she teased.

"I'm not fishing," he sneered. "I really want to know."

She leveled an even gaze at him. "You don't care if I'm pretty," she told him almost accusingly.

Gaara scoffed again. "Yeah, I do," he corrected haughtily.

She gave him an impish grin. "Oh? And why is that?"

He smirked and looked out at the crowd of passersby. "I like the jealous and incredulous stares we get when we're together," he admitted.

Calixta grinned and moved her chair and place setting closer. "Actually…I find I rather like that as well, but that's just as much because of you than it is because of me."

"Tch, the incredulity part maybe," he laughed.

"Well, if you hadn't killed so many of their people and destroyed so much of their village, they might be able to see how handsome you are," she chided.

Gaara tensed at the reminder of his rampage.

"Besides, I get almost as much incredulity as you do. You think everyone here likes me and trusts me. In that, you're wrong. The people you've met and talked to, at least as far as I know, are the ones I've spent the most time with, the one's I've gotten to know and who have gotten to know me. There are still many people here who distrust me greatly, who avert their eyes when they notice me walking down the street," she told him. "The lucky ones still don't know what I am…at least I can hide it now," she sadly mused.

"But you never killed anybody," he told her, almost boastingly.

At that, she broke eye contact. "Not with my own hands, no," she reluctantly agreed.

He felt her pang of sadness and regret and, for some reason, he felt provoked by it. "Is there any other way?" he asked dryly.

"A person can be responsible for the death of another without…" she trailed off. Then, because she was choking up a bit, she took a few sips from her wine glass.

That caused Gaara pause. He had known no other way of ending the life of another. Either one did it oneself or they paid another to do it. "I see…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he stopped himself because he wasn't sure how to describe what he had done. "It's supposed to be a happy occasion, let's drop it," he suggested.

"No, please, don't apologize. I'm the one who started it," she guiltily dismissed.

He quirked an eyebrow, "Why did you?"

She gave him a shy, sideways glance, "Because it's the only part of ourselves that we haven't shared."

"What about last night?"

"You were drunk. It doesn't count. We only scratched the surface, anyway," she dismissed and took another drink.

"You keep that up and you'll be the one who's drunk," he commented.

"Maybe I should slow down then," she set down her glass, "I know you don't like that."

Gaara shrugged. "Do what you like. It is your birthday," he reminded.

She smiled and picked up her glass again, "So it is." She tipped it to him before taking another sip and setting back down to finish her meal.

"So…you really do feel like an outcast still," he broached again, "Even though the people here accept you?"

She nodded. "I wonder what it would be like to go somewhere else now, some place where people don't know about what I am," she mused wistfully.

"What are you, exactly?" he pressed carefully. He didn't want to offend her but she gave him the opening to ask and he wasn't going to let it slip by.

"That's a good question. I've been called a lot of things…but those don't really matter anymore. I'm…I'm like an emotional leech," she admitted.

"A leech?" he scoffed.

"Yeah. I need other people, their emotions and the energy that comes with it," she explained. "That's why I have so many lovers. I don't want to rely on one person. If I did that and they knew, which would happen sooner or later…they'd feel obliged to engage with me and that's the worst feeling of all as far as I'm concerned. It's even worse than dealing with other people's hate."

"What happens if you don't?" he curiously continued.

"What happens to a plant if it doesn't get enough sunshine?" she answered with a question and then sighed. "It may not die, but it might as well."

"I didn't realize…" he quietly replied.

She gave him an odd look as he considered the implications. "Now you think I use people," she regretfully told him.

"In a way, you do," he managed.

"I suppose that's true. I like to think that I give my partners back as much as they give me but they don't need it like I do," she admitted.

That made Gaara give her a slightly perplexed look but not because he didn't understand what she meant. He understood perfectly well what she was saying. Rather, it was because he felt like he needed her affection at least as much as she needed his, which made him realize that he might be falling for her as well.

As he thought, the waiter with the dessert cart came by and she grabbed a piece of cheesecake for each of them. He hardly noticed the new plate sitting in front of him until she spoke.

The look made her smile. "That's a cute expression. What's it for?" She could feel the dawning of realization within him and wanted to know what it was.

Gaara appeared slightly startled and wondered how much of his thoughts she had gleaned from his emotions. To stall, he looked down at his plate. "I don't like strawberry," he stated.

"Then here," she switched their plates, "How's chocolate?"

"Better," he conceded. "I…" he began but didn't know how to finish.

She studied him for a moment before letting him off the hook by kissing him. "Forget I asked," she winked and dug into her dessert.

That really made him wonder if she knew what he was thinking. He knew she wasn't a mind reader but as far as he was concerned, she was damn close, especially with as close as they had become. "I might be falling for you too," he admitted, almost bitterly.

She smiled wide at the admission as tears started to brim in her eyes. Knowing no words would be right, she left it at that and they finished their dessert in peace.

After their meal, which he still felt a little bad that she paid for, they walked around for a few hours before retiring for the evening. They walked arm in arm, this time not simply because they enjoyed being close. This time, it was because she was rather tipsy after her third glass of wine.

They were on their way back to her house when Temari approached them.

"Goo-" was as far as Calixta got in greeting the blonde sand ninja before she was interrupted.

"You have some nerve sending that guy after me like that!" she accused.

"Hm?" Calixta blinked dizzily through the darkness.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about! You sent that chauvinist after me!" she continued to accuse.

Calixta laughed so hard she almost fell down. If not for Gaara, she probably would have. "Oh, you mean Shikamaru," she giggled. "Yeah, he needs an attitude adjustment, doesn't he?"

"If you ever do something like that again-" Temari started to threaten but she was interrupted. To her surprise, it wasn't Gaara coming to her defense either.

"You'll do what? Tch," Calixta scoffed, "I just told him you were in town 'cause I know he likes you. I thought a tough chick like you could straighten him out some. Besides, you deserve a little shit for that nasty look you gave me earlier. Never mind, not even you can ruin this day," she laughed again. "Come on," she turned to Gaara. "She's giving me really bad vibes."

Gaara just smirked and led his drunk girlfriend away, laughing inside at how readily she told off his sister.

As they walked up the porch steps, Calixta reached for the doorknob but something caught Gaara's attention. There was a string hanging in front of the door with a little note attached.

"What's this?" he incredulously questioned.

"Hm?" she giggled.

"It says 'pull'," he informed.

"So pull it," she urged.

"Are you sure?" he questioned carefully. His instincts told him it was probably a trap.

Calixta took a moment to look at the note. "Yeah, that's Kakashi's handwriting. Go 'head and pull it," she told him hopefully.

With a shrug, he complied. When he did, a flock of cranes, also on strings, fell. They were hanging along the west side of her porch roof and formed a character, a single word, suspended in air.

"Understanding?" Gaara read.

Calixta smiled wide, tears brimming in her eyes and she glomped Gaara, knocking him to the floor. He made a small sound of surprise, which was quickly quelled by her kissing him. She had them undressed in a matter of moments.

"Sh-Shouldn't we go inside? I mean…we're right here," he tried to reason.

"Oh, don't make me wait another second. You're going to make love to me and you're going to do it right here, right now," she informed. "I don't care if the whole world sees! In fact, I want them to see!"

Her tone left no room for argument even if Gaara was inclined to argue and before he knew it, their bodies and emotions were one. There was a fleeting moment, right at the start, that he worried their cries of ecstasy would draw the attention of others who might be inclined to interfere, but that was quickly pushed out of his mind when she slid down his shaft and they both moaned deeply.

Once they got going, Gaara found there was a certain thrill to coupling out in the open. Sure, the last time he was in their village, they did it while Naruto was in the room, but he wasn't there for the thrill of it. He was there to make sure Calixta didn't get hurt any more than she already was; he was a chaperone. This was completely different. Any passerby could see and hear what they were doing through the stillness of night lit only by the half moon.

He wondered about the night before, when he tried to seduce her on the edge of the forest. Things were so different now that it almost seemed like ages ago. He had opened up to this woman in ways he never thought possible and here they were. He knew they weren't in love but there was the spark of love between them and it was growing. The feeling itself almost overwhelmed him to the point where he felt as though he might be the one that was drunk.

It took a little while, because she was enjoying their chakra exchange so much, but Calixta did eventually notice the dazed look on Gaara's face, "What is it? Is there something wrong?" she asked, though she could sense nothing wrong from him.

Her voice pulled him from his stupor and made him take action. He rolled them over so he could be on top, "Everything's perfect," he growled into her ear, reveling in the intense tremor that reverberated through her body.

To Gaara's surprise, either no one noticed or they were smart enough to avoid them. Either way, they were allowed to lay in peace and enjoy their post-coital euphoria until she fell asleep beneath him a few minutes later. With an affectionate chuckle, he scooped her up, gathered their clothes, and went inside where he put her to bed and redressed.

* * *

Calixta awoke the following morning to the sound of someone banging around in her kitchen. Curious, she slipped on her robe and went to go see. She wasn't surprised that it was Gaara causing the commotion; she was surprised that he appeared to be making something.

She walked up behind him, slipped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder, "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

"Eggs and toast, the only thingI know how to make," he replied simply.

"My favorite," she giggled as she slipped away to start a pot of coffee, "so don't bother learning any new recipes."

They ate their breakfast in comfortable silence, playfully exchanging chakra until there was a knock on the door. She could tell he didn't want her to answer, but she was more polite than that and answered it anyway.

"Good mo-" was as far as she got before she was once again interrupted by Temari.

"Where's Gaara?" she curtly demanded.

Calixta rolled her eyes, "Please, come in," she dryly invited.

Temari barged past her. "That reply's ready. Let's go," she informed.

Gaara didn't even look at her, "You go get it," he ordered.

"I already tried. They won't let me, said the person who delivered the message has to pick up the reply," she replied.

"Let me finish my breakfast," he told her as Calixta sat back down at the table.

Temari examined their meager spread. "Since when do you drink coffee?"

"Since now," he shrugged. "What do you care?"

"That shit's bad for you, stunts your growth, gives you the jitters," she weakly complained.

"If you're going to badger my guest, I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside," Calixta warned.

Gaara didn't say anything so Temari took a seat on Calixta's couch and waited for them to finish. When they were done, she stood. "Okay, you're done. Let's go," she started to the door but to her dismay, Gaara didn't follow. Instead, he helped Calixta clear the table.

"Dishes first," he curtly informed.

"You never do the dishes," she scoffed, knowing that he was stalling.

"I've never cooked for anyone either," he answered because he knew it would annoy her further.

"You cooked?" she almost laughed.

"And it was very good," Calixta informed haughtily.

Temari grumbled but didn't offer further argument. Once the dishes were washed and dried, Gaara was ready to go.

"Finally! Let's go!" Temari impatiently prompted when the couple paused just outside the door.

"Let me say good bye," Calixta requested.

"What for? You two spent the last couple days together," she scoffed.

Calixta seethed for a moment, "Now look here, I've been very polite to you in spite of the fact that you have only tolerated me. I just want to say good bye, something that will only take a moment," she lectured.

Temari grumbled and rolled her eyes with impatience. "Fine, make it quick," she turned her back to them when she reached the bottom of the porch steps.

"Thank you," Calixta sarcastically told the blonde before turning back to the young man standing next to her. "And thank you. I had a wonderful time and on won't take this," she lifted the necklace for emphasis, "off until I see you again. That's a promise," she vowed.

Gaara smiled because he knew his sister wasn't paying attention. "Take care of yourself," he told her and then kissed her. To his surprise, it was more than just a kiss. She moved from his lips to the side of his neck where she gave him a hickey. Once satisfied with the little bruise, she gave a little kiss and withdrew.

"What…?" he brought his hand up to feel for whatever she'd done but felt nothing because the damage was beneath the skin.

"Just a little something to remember me by," she winked. "Well," she sighed, "you'd better go. I hope to see you again and soon…and without pretense," she smirked.

"You can't get rid of me now," he gave her an evil little grin and walked away.

She started to take down the flock of cranes as they reached the end of the walk because she knew if she watched him leave, she would cry and she didn't want him to have to bear that.

As they walked, Temari examined her brother and noticed the little bruise on his neck. "What's that?" she poked at it. Normally, she wouldn't have done such a thing but he seemed so docile that she couldn't help herself.

"Don't touch me!" he griped, slapping her hand away but the damage was already done.

"You're not wearing your sand armor!" she accused because she could feel the difference in his skin.

"Is there a need for it here?" Gaara defended.

"It's 'cause of her, isn't it? You let your guard down for her!" Temari raised her voice out of shock.

"Drop it or I'll fill your lungs with sand," he threatened seriously.

She wouldn't have believed him except she could see particles of sand starting to float in the air around her so she didn't say another word about it. Once they were out of the Leaf Village, Gaara's sand armor was in place and the hickey was hidden.

They were half way home before Temari gathered the courage to speak to him. "Gaara?" she carefully began.

"What is it this time?" he grumbled.

She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to say or how to say it and ended up stammering for a moment.

"Do you actually want something or are you just saying my name to annoy me?" he snapped harshly.

"I just…It's just that-oh, I don't know. I just want to know about you and that girl. What's the deal with you two?" she barely managed.

"What do you care?" he turned away with a sneer.

"I'm your sister," she replied quietly. "You don't let me do any of the normal sister stuff…and you've always been so independent. I trust your judgment. I just want to know, that's all."

"You're worried about me," he laughed incredulously.

"I didn't say that," she defensively replied.

"Do you _really_ want to know what's going on between us? Or are you just asking because you _know_ Baki is going to ask and he's too scared to ask me so he'll pressure you into telling him?" he interrogated.

"I-I wanna know," she managed.

Gaara eyed her critically, momentarily wishing he could read others as well as he could read Calixta but then dismissing it because he knew the level of intimacy it would require and he wasn't up for that. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to breathe a single word of it to anybody, not Baki, not Kankuro, _nobody_, got it?" he bargained.

Surprised that he was even considering telling her, Temari agreed with a dumbfounded nod. "Yeah, okay. I can keep a secret."

At that, Gaara stopped moving. For some reason, he felt the need to stand still while continuing this discussion; it seemed to add to the gravity of his words, whatever those words might be. It took him quite a while to decide exactly what he wanted to say to her. Luckily, she seemed willing to wait. "We're lovers," he finally replied, his tone serious but still slightly bragging.

Temari cocked an eyebrow. "What does that mean?" she carefully pressed.

"What do you _think_ it means?" he asked seriously.

His seriousness again took her off guard. "Does it mean you love her?" she asked carefully.

Gaara laughed again but this time there wasn't a trace of incredulity. "No, I don't love her," he half-lied.

"Then what?"

"We're connected," he replied simply. "There's no fear or hate between us."

Sensing that was about all she was going to get out of him, Temari let it go. "Come on, let's get home."

Gaara nodded and they were once again on their way.

* * *

Temari was disappointed that Gaara was right. Baki confronted her almost immediately after she and Gaara parted ways to pry every little detail out of her that he could. It was difficult, but she managed to keep her promise to Gaara, if only out of fear. She only gave him the few facts that she had gathered during their mission.

"What you do think about them?" Baki finally asked.

"What do I think?" she repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, that's what I asked," he confirmed, obviously displeased by her evasiveness.

"I…I dunno. They seem good enough together. I mean, he doesn't lash out at her or anything, if that's what you mean," she managed.

"Do you think he really likes her? Or do you think he's just using her to heal him?" he pressed.

"I can't say if he likes her or not…but I don't think he's just using her," she replied carefully.

Baki nodded. "Okay. Thank you. If you see him again before I do, let him know I'd like to talk to him," he ordered and then let her go.

As she exited, Temari breathed a sigh of relief at having been able to keep her promise. Her relief only lasted a moment because she was practically ambushed by Gaara.

"Temari," he said quietly from around the corner as she exited their sensei's office.

She practically jumped out of her skin. "Ah-G-Gaara…Baki-sensei wants to talk to you…when you get a minute," she managed.

"Of course he does," Gaara hissed.

"I-I didn't tell him," she told him quickly.

He eyed his sister wearily. "Good," was all he said before going into the office himself.

"Oh, Gaara, good. I was hoping Temari would run into you. I assume your mission went well, no complications?" Baki carefully began.

"No complications," he confirmed.

"Did you get to spend sometime with that Calixta girl while you were there?" he asked knowingly.

"She managed to…keep me entertained while I was waiting for the reply," he half smirked.

Baki gave an exasperated sigh and then let himself laugh a little.

"What's so funny?" Gaara snapped.

"I didn't expect you to take to her, that's all. After what happened when Temari and Kankuro brought her here and all." When he saw the humor was lost on his student, he let it go. "Never mind, it's not important. I'm happy to hear your mission went well. You've spent more time with her than anyone else. What do you make of her?"

Gaara eyed his sensei warily. What was he supposed to say? That she was the most amazingly accepting person he'd even known? That he had all but fallen in love with her after only seeing her three times? More than anything, he was annoyed that he had misjudged his sensei. He didn't think the man would have the guts to ask. "What's that supposed to mean?" he finally said.

"I'm just curious. She's an unusual person and, from what little I've seen, she seems to have taken a special liking to you."

"And that makes her unusual?" Gaara rudely surmised even though he knew that wasn't what the man meant.

"Not precisely," Baki managed.

"But that's part of it. You don't think anyone could really like me," Gaara accused.

"Now, Gaara, I never said anything of the sort. Kakashi gave me the impression that because of her abilities, she can like just about anybody. I was simply wondering if you…had similar feelings toward her."

"You think she's manipulating me," Gaara continued to accuse.

"I didn't say that either," Baki sternly replied.

"You didn't have to," he turned his back.

"Look, Gaara, I'm not trying to make any sort of accusations. I was simply inquiring about your relationship with this girl. Are you actually fond of her or are you using her because she heals you? Since the dark circles around your eyes are practically gone, I can assume you at least took advantage of her healing while you were there. Is that all she is to you or is there something more?"

"I'm not using her. She offers herself to me," he replied bitterly.

"That doesn't really answer my question. How do you feel about her?" Baki pressed, knowing he could only get away with such a direct question because he was the young man's sensei.

"I like her well enough," he shrugged.

Baki nodded but it went unnoticed. "Very well." With that, he let his student leave. He wanted to offer a friendly ear for the young man to confide in but after how defensive Gaara had been, he thought better of it.

He could tell his students were keeping something from him but because of his experience, he could also tell it was for the sake of Gaara's privacy. It gave him a lot to think about and he wondered whether or not he should encourage Gaara in his psudo-romantic pursuit or to continue taking his defensive stance toward them.

* * *

For about a week after Gaara left, Calixta kept to herself. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered anyone, except she was Calixta and those who were close to her began to worry that she might be shutting herself up. Knowing all too well that would be bad for her, her friends tried to get her out.

Ebisu was the first to try one afternoon with a friendly knock on her front door. "Good afternoon, Calixta-chan!" he greeted with a friendly smile when she answered the door.

She gave him a gentle smile. "Good afternoon. To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked as she let him in.

"Oh, I was just thinking, we haven't gone out in a while. Maybe we could have dinner?" he tried.

"Maybe another time. I don't really feel like going out," she poured him a cup of tea so he wouldn't think she was completely shutting him down.

"Oh, okay. If you change your mind, you know where to find me, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Thank you," she smiled again.

They conversed for a while but she could tell there was something on his mind that he wasn't telling her.

"What's up? You look like something's on your mind," she tried.

"I was just wondering…what's with you and that Gaara kid? Are you really lovers?" he finally asked.

Her smile widened for a moment before she replied. "Yeah, we are. That really bothers you, doesn't it?"

Ebisu shifted uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, it kinda does," he admitted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked carefully.

"That night we went out when he was here, you said you didn't want to talk about it," he reminded.

"Well, that was different. I had just explained myself to a lot of other people and I was tired of it. If it's something that really bothers you, we should hash it out," she told him seriously. "So, what's the matter? Is it because he demolished a fair portion of the village and tried to kill a bunch of people?" she asked teasingly.

Ebisu glared at her. "That's got a lot to do with it," he grumbled. "I wouldn't take that tone about it either, if I were you. A lot of people are still pretty shook up about it."

"Of course, I shouldn't be so insensitive but the Gaara I know isn't like that. So I can only assume he's changed since then," she reasoned.

Ebisu scoffed at that.

"What? Don't you think people can change?" she prompted.

"I'm not entirely convinced he is a person," he retorted.

"When you say things like that, I'm not sure you're a person," she snapped.

Sensing her displeasure with him, because she wasn't trying to hide it even a little, he backed of a little, "I'm sorry. It's just…you weren't here when it happened. That kid's crazy and you don't get over being crazy that quickly," he tried.

"Oh, I know he's still mentally unstable but I don't think he'll do anything like that again," she replied.

"You can't say something like that for certain," he grumbled.

"No, you can't," she reluctantly agreed. "Is that you're real issue? You're concerned for my safety?" she asked carefully. She didn't want to mock his concern if it was genuine because she knew how much it would hurt him.

"What else is there?" he shrugged.

She probed him with her chakra for a moment to find that he was being honest. His primary concern was her safety, even if he was a little jealous. "Just making sure…and I can assure you that there have been fewer places I've felt safer than in his arms," she told him confidently."

Ebisu frowned at that, his jealousy growing slightly. "I find that hard to believe. I think he's deceiving you."

"He can't deceive me like that," she curtly reminded.

"Then you're judgments off," he told her seriously, "probably because he's unstable."

"My judgment's fine," she assured him with a slight glare.

Ebisu gave a sigh of exasperation. "What do you even see in that kid anyway? He's so creepy!"

Calixta rolled her eyes. "Obviously, I see something that very few others have. It's buried very deep, but it's there."

"What is it, exactly, though?" he pressed, thinking he had the upper hand.

"He's got a kind heart and if it's my safety you're really concerned about, you don't have to worry. He wouldn't hurt me," she told him.

"A kind heart?" he scoffed, even laughed at her. "And you don't know that! He could snap at any time and when that happens, it won't matter if you're friends or lovers or anything. He'll kill you just like anybody else," he warned.

Calixta closed her eyes and took a deep breath to center herself. "You don't understand…no, it's more than that. You don't want to understand."

"What's there to understand? You're entertaining a psychopath and you don't think there's anything wrong with that," he snapped harshly.

"Ebisu, I know you care for me a great deal so I'm trying not to take offense at what you're saying but I think at this point, it'd be best if you left," she told him evenly.

"You really like this kid, don't you?"

"He has a name!" she raised her voice unintentionally.

"Fine, I'll go. I'm sorry to have bothered you." He stood and started to leave. "But if you want to go out, my offer still stands," he weakly reminded as he walked out.

Calixta had hoped that others would not hold such a negative view toward her relationship with Gaara. For the most part, her hopes were fulfilled. A few of her friends and lovers, though, felt the need to distance themselves from her because of it. It made her a little sad but she tried to be understanding, however trying that might be.

Upon hearing of Ebisu's rejection, Kakashi went to check on her. It had been his idea that the older man try to take her out because he knew what a negative effect seclusion would have on her.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei! Please, come in," she gave a friendly motion.

Her perkiness took him off guard. For as long as she'd kept to herself, he expected her to be much more sullen.

"Is there something I can do for you?" she asked hopefully.

"I just came to check on you. You haven't been out in a while," he began.

She gave him a gentle smile that he knew meant she was placating him. "And you were worried about me. That's very sweet but I'm fine really," she assured.

"Are you sure? How long as it been since you've been with someone?" he asked, not feeling as forward as he normally would because of who he was talking with.

"I haven't _been with someone_ since Gaara left," she replied.

Kakashi eyed her critically. He didn't trust her solitude but everything else told him she was doing well. "How come?"

"I haven't felt inclined to," she answered simply.

"And why's that?" he pressed.

She gave him an amused look and then shrugged. "Please, don't worry so much. I'll find someone before it becomes an issue. Besides, you're the one who's always trying to get me to test my limits," she chided.

"Okay. I'll take your word for it. If you need anything though, you know you can always come to me, right?" he offered genuinely, which earned him an endeared kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. It's nice to know you'll be there for me if I need you," she smiled and this time it was a genuine smile. "And unlike Guy, I don't mind if you wake me in the middle of the night."

He left a short while later but only felt slightly better about the situation.

A couple days later, while she was at the market, she and Satu were approached by Akamaru, shortly followed by Kiba. Since she adopted her own puppy, Akamaru had stopped jumping on her. Instead, he preferred to play with Satu, which was perfectly fine with both Calixta and Kiba.

"Good afternoon, Kiba-san!" she greeted merrily.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, you know, just grocery shopping. Not the most fun but it has to be done," she laughed.

He offered to help her carry her things and she reluctantly allowed him because their conversation was so pleasant and they chatted for a while as she shopped and their dogs played.

"That's a pretty necklace," he commented.

"Oh, thanks. It was a birthday present," she held it up to look at it, admiring the way the little red stone caught the light.

"From who?" he asked curiously. With a charm that said 'love', he knew it has to be someone special.

She blushed a little. "Gaara gave it to me," she admitted bashfully.

Kiba cocked a strange look. "Gaara of the desert?" he verified.

"Do you know another Gaara?" she laughed a little.

"No, I guess not. I'm just surprised, that's all. He doesn't really seem like the gift giving type of person," he reasoned.

"I can't say for sure, but I think it might be the first gift he's given, at least in a long time," she told him seriously.

"Then he must really like you," he mused.

She blushed a little. "I suppose."

"You like him to, huh?" he teased.

"Aren't you nosey!" she jabbed him playfully.

Kiba shrugged. "So you've got a crush, no big deal. You're not the first person to have a crush."

She found that a little odd coming from him, since she knew he had a crush on her, but apparently he felt comfortable giving her a hard time about it. "I never said it was a crush!" she playfully retorted. "Don't put words in my mouth."

Kiba snickered. "You didn't have to say it. I saw the way you looked at that necklace."

She shook her head in exasperation. "Okay, that's the last of my shopping. You wanna carry my stuff home? I'll make you a snack?" she offered.

Naturally, he agreed. He had been expecting such an offer. What he didn't expect was the conversation she started as they started eating.

"So, if you know so much about crushes, what do you do about it?" she asked playfully.

"You're asking me?" he blushed.

"Well, you've had a crush before, right?" she asked knowingly.

"Well, yeah, I guess," he managed.

"So? What do you do about it?" she pressed.

"I-I dunno. Sometimes you go for it, sometimes you don't," he replied.

"How do you know?" she continued.

"Is this about Gaara?" he suddenly asked.

"You're the one who said I had a crush on him," she reminded.

"Well, yeah, but…correct me if I'm wrong but you guys already went for it, didn't you?"

She cocked an odd look. "Define 'went for it'," she requested seriously.

That caused him pause. "I guess that doesn't mean the same thing for you, does it," he laughed

"Oh, you mean sex, don't you?" she laughed with him. "Does that mean you and I went for it?" she teased.

His brow furrowed. "I don't think so. I mean, it's not like it wasn't good times, right?" he covered.

She laughed a little at his awkwardness. "It was wasn't it?" she winked. "But seriously," she almost pleaded.

"I can't believe you're asking me about this," he nearly awed. "You're like the queen of relationships and you don't know what to do with a crush?"

"I appreciate the praise but it's hardly the truth," she dismissed.

"But seriously? I don't think I can tell you what you're asking." When he saw how disappointed she was, he continued, "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't have a lot of experience with that kind of thing. All I know is you have a crush, if it sticks around, you go on dates and if that works out, I guess there's romance or something," he clumsily reasoned, which earned him an endeared smile.

"I appreciate you humoring me," she replied seriously. They chatted a little longer while finishing their snacks and after she cleared the table, she sat down next to him, placing a careful hand on his thigh. "So, you wanna have some more good times?" she mischievously proposed.

Kiba hesitated. He really wanted to and when she came onto him like that, he was very difficult to refuse her but the little charm around her neck caught his eye. "Maybe another time. I gotta get home. My mom's probably wondering what happened to us," he laughed nervously.

She gave him a perplexed look. "Oh, okay. Thanks for your help," she managed as she showed him to the door.

He could sense her disappointment but tried to push it out of his mind as he walked out.

* * *

In the meantime, Calixta and Gaara continued to keep in touch , exchanging little notes with heartfelt words they knew no one else would understand. This continued until the following spring. This time, when the empty milk jugs returned, they didn't care with them a note from Gaara, but rather one from his sensei. This both perplexed and excited her and she took it to the one person she knew she could confide in.

"What's this?" Kakashi asked when she handed him the paper one afternoon over tea.

"Baki-sensei sent it," she replied.

That didn't answer his question, so Kakashi unfolded it to find it was a flier for the annual Monsoon Festival held by the Sand Village. It contained no personal information, just the dates and times of the events to be held. "You say Baki sent you this, not Gaara?" he verified.

"That's what the envelope said," she confirmed.

"Well, it seems he's changed his mind about you. Are you planning to accept?" he asked curiously.

"Accept?" she repeated curiously.

"This is obviously his way of inviting you to the festival. I don't know if you realize but the Sand Village rarely has idle visitors. Their resources are precious and rationed even among those who live there. The monsoon season is the only time they show any sort of excess," he explained.

"Then it would be rude of me to decline such an invitation," she surmised.

"I didn't say that. I just wanted you to know that he wouldn't send this flier unless he seriously wanted you to come."

At that, Calixta frowned.

"What's the matter? I thought you'd be excited about something like this."

"Oh, I am, really. I just wish it was Gaara who'd sent it, that's all."

"Perhaps, Baki meant it as a surprise for Gaara," he suggested.

That didn't ease her frown. "I'm not sure he likes surprises."

"I'm sure he doesn't but if it's you, I bet he'd make an exception," he hopefully replied.

She still appeared unsure but tried to shake it off. "I shouldn't think this way. He'll know something's wrong."

"He'll know?" Kakashi incredulously questioned.

Calixta gave him a guilty look. "I know I shouldn't keep things from you. You're the only person I've been able to confide in without having to worry about being judged…well morally judged. When you do make judgments, I respect them."

That made Kakashi uneasy. "What have you been keeping from me?"

"I'm not really sure how it happened or even why but…Gaara and I, we've gotten very close. The last time we were together…it was like our souls touched. It's almost like we've become intertwined."

"That string you spoke about last time, the one he's still holding onto. Now you're both tangled up in it," Kakashi half-joked.

That made her laugh. "I suppose so." Then, she turned serious again. "Kakashi-sensei, what do you think of my relationship with Gaara?"

"Well, it's hard to say since you've apparently been keeping me in the dark about it," he teased.

"I-I'm really sorry about that. Oh, damn it. I didn't mean to apologize, it's just-ugh, I don't know. It's difficult to explain. I'm not sure I understand it myself," she babbled.

"Hey, it's okay. Settle down. You don't want him to think there's something wrong, do you?" he teasingly chided. "Maybe I can help you understand if you tell me about it," he offered.

"Oh, thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you," she gushed. "But…seriously…I've never felt this way about another person before. It's so strange."

"Felt what way?" he pressed curiously.

"I don't know! I've never felt this way before!" she fretted before calming her self a little with a few sips of tea. "Have you ever…been in love?"

Kakashi's eyes grew wide and he nearly spit out his tea. "Are you saying you love Gaara?"

"I don't know," she weakly admitted.

"There have been a few people I thought I was in love with but it never worked out," he admitted regretfully.

"Then how do you know?"

"I'm not sure I can explain it," he managed.

"Oh…I was afraid you'd say that," she grumbled, remembering her conversation with Kiba.

"I'm surprised you don't know," he mused.

"Why's that?"

"Well, considering you know more about emotions than anyone else I've ever known, I just thought you'd know if you were in love."

"I know what it feels like to be the object of someone else's love…and how crushing it is when that feeling's not returned," she told him sadly.

"Well, let's start with that then. Does he love you?" he asked curiously.

Her lips curved into a nostalgic little smile. "No…well, to just say no isn't right. He's close and it makes him really nervous," she replied honestly.

"That's a good start," he commended but wasn't sure where to go from there.

"I-I have an idea," she shyly began.

"What's that?"

"I want to show you how I feel about Gaara and then you can tell me what it is, if you can tell that is," she managed.

Kakashi was pensive for a moment. "I'm not sure Gaara would appreciate you sharing your feelings like that," he tried to argue.

"Probably not…but I have to know. Please, do this one thing for me. I won't ask you for anything else ever again," she pleaded.

"I highly doubt that," he laughed. "But okay, if that's what you really want. I'll do it but under one condition."

With Kakashi there was always a catch, she was used to that by now. "What is it?" she asked anxiously.

"You have to take someone else with you if you go to the Monsoon Festival and I get to pick who it is," he stated firmly.

She thought it over for a moment. "Yeah, okay, sure," she hastily agreed.

Kakashi gave a solemn nod. "What do we do then?" He barely hid the nervousness from his voice but she could sense it anyway.

"This really makes you uncomfortable," she commented quietly. "Maybe we shouldn't. I've imposed enough on you as it is."

The grey-haired man gave a thoughtful sigh. "If it's what you really want, I don't want to deny you. I can tell this is really important to you. Please, do what you have to. I want to help."

She almost cried at his willingness to go through with it in spite of his obvious discomfort. "Okay. We should both meditate for a short time before I try to share my feelings with you. That way, we won't be clouded by other things."

So, they sat in near silence, save the sound of their breathing, for almost a half an hour before she moved over to him.

"Please, tell me to stop if it gets too strange," she offered, placing her hands on his chest. At first, she was going to take his hands but the feelings she had for Gaara seemed to emanate from her chest and sometimes her stomach.

It took only a few second before Kakashi felt a strange warmth start to well up within him. He tried to keep his eyes open so he could watch Calixta but when her eyes closed, it was difficult to keep his open. Knowing better than to fight it, because it might cause some sort of disturbance, he let his eyes slide shut. Before long, his heart started to race, his mind got a little fuzzy, and he felt a strange fluttering throughout his entire being.

She felt him almost pull away a few minutes later but decided to stop him, "Not just yet…I've almost got it," she pleaded.

Kakashi took a deep breath to steady himself and leaned forward to rest his hands on her thighs as a show of his compliance. After the feeling intensified by a factor of at least three, it leveled out.

"There," she said quietly, "What is that?"

He paused for a few long moments to analyze how or rather what he was feeling. It was a strange mixture of feelings that he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Why is there so much sadness?"

She hesitated before answering. "Because this is how I feel when he's far away. If you want to keep going, I can try to recall how I feel when we're together," she offered hopefully.

He could barely hear her because of how loudly his heartbeat was thumping in his hears. It took him almost a full minute to answer and even then it was only a vague nod.

"I want to see your expression. Please, take your mask off," she requested but when his hand started to move toward his face, she hastily added, "But don't you dare uncover your sharingan."

"Why not?" He had actually been expecting her to want him to utilize it some how.

"Just don't. I don't know what it'll do and this is hard enough to control already."

"You don't think I could help you with that?" he proposed curiously.

"The level of difficulty is part of the issue," she insisted.

He could tell that if he even touched his makeshift eye patch, she would immediately cease her efforts so he closed his eyes again as he pulled his scarf down until it was bunched up around his neck.

"Thank you," she nodded, which he felt instead of heard.

Instead of placing that hand back on her thigh, he laid it on the hand on his chest that sat closer to his heart. It was as much out of a desire for further physical contact as it was a defense mechanism.

As their breathing settled into a rhythm, Calixta tried to recall the night before Gaara left. The time they spent on her porch was the closest she ever felt to anyone. Sure, empathy brought her closer to others but there was always a subconscious wall of resistance between her and those she had charmed. Even those who wanted her to do such a thing always put up walls, if only to test her. Gaara wasn't exactly an exception to that trend…except for that night. He wasn't completely unguarded but she could tell that was the least guarded he had been in a very long time.

When they made similarly heated sounds a few minutes later, Kakashi instinctively gripped her hand a little harder. "This is how he makes you feel?" he questioned with disbelief.

"I'm not done yet," she told him carefully, "But no, not all the time. I want to show you every degree."

Kakashi tried to center himself again but was finding it increasingly difficult to do so with the way her chakra was pressing in around him as his welled up inside him.

She remembered all the expressions he showed her and no one else, how comfortable it felt to fall asleep in his arms, and the first time he kissed her with all the passion he could muster.

There were moments, split seconds, when he thought she would overwhelm him, causing occasional flashes of panic that were quickly becoming less frequent because he knew that wasn't her aim. Once the flashes were gone, a great warmth overtook him and, without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

"Ah-" she gasped, "Kakashi-sensei," she gently pushed him away.

Her voice brought him out of his stupor and he backed off. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing," he admitted.

"It's okay, really," she caught her breath. "I might have gone a bit overboard trying to get my point across. What do you think?"

Kakashi took a few sips of tea before answering. "I'm not sure if that was love but I don't know what else I'd call it either. It was really disorienting, sort of a jumble to be honest," he sighed.

"That's because I wanted to convey so much at once. I hope it wasn't too bad," she blushed.

"If it was too bad, I doubt I would have kissed you like that," he laughed.

"I should have been expecting it," she muttered.

"Oh? Why's that?" he prompted curiously.

She blushed a little, "Because I was thinking about kissing at the time," she admitted.

Kakashi grew thoughtful for a moment, "If that's how you feel when you're kissing Gaara, I have to say you're in love," he told her seriously.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Those feelings I got at first, the less intense feelings," he began.

"What about them?"

"Is that how you normally feel?"

She quirked an odd look. "Normally?" she laughed a silly little laugh, "I'm still venturing in to normalcy. But they are persistent, consistent," she managed.

"Frequent?" he pressed.

"Yes, that too. More so recently, of course," she replied. "What are you getting at?"

He gave her a pensive, almost guilty look, "I don't think I could function if I had such intense feelings so often."

This earned him a gentle smile, "Yes you can."

He shook his head in disbelief. "I'm glad you have such confidence in me but I suppose with as much time and training you've had to become accustomed to that kind of intensity, you would say such a thing."

"You feel intensely all the time. There's just a filter in your brain that helps you ignore most of it, like a mental flood gate that only lets a portion of the feelings through. You just don't let it down very far very often," she told him almost chidingly.

That made him remember that for her it was almost the exact opposite. For her, the gate was naturally down and she had to make a special effort to raise it, something that had only compounded the problems her empathy caused. "Of course," he agreed with a thoughtful nod.

"I think I'll go to the festival," she finally decided.

"I'm happy to hear that. I'm sure you'll have a splendid time," he smiled.

"Who are you going to send with me?" she curiously queried.

"I haven't decided yet. I need to look into some of the scheduling for the next couple weeks to see who's available," he replied.

"Alright, I figured as much. Thank you, again, for everything," she managed.

"Now that you have my opinion on the matter, what are you going to do with it?" he asked as he walked her out.

"I'm gunna go for it," she replied resolutely before waving and scampering off.


	16. When it rains

"You seem disappointed," Kakashi noted after he told Calixta who he had chosen to accompany her to the Village Hidden in the Sand.

"It's just that Ebisu and I haven't exactly been getting along the best lately," she replied.

"Then the two to three days it will take you to get there should give you plenty of time to work things out," he pointed out. "Would you rather I have picked Sasuke?" he teased.

"Actually, in this instance, I might prefer Sasuke," she told him sadly.

"It can't be that bad," he eased. "Maybe if you didn't turn down his dates all the time anymore, you two might be on better terms."

"It's not the same anymore," she muttered.

"What's changed?" Kakashi pressed.

"Sasuke isn't emotionally invested in me in the same ways as Eibsu," was her vague, but telling, reply.

"You're not being straight with me here," Kakashi pointed out. "Are you doing it on purpose or because you're really that confused?"

Calixta sighed heavily, allowing her shoulders to slump. "Is both an option?" she dryly laughed. At that point, she knew she had a choice, she could tell Kakashi what was on her mind or she could risk irritating her sensei by keeping it to herself. "Before Gaara came into my life, Ebisu and I were getting closer. Since then, he's pulled away and rather quickly."

"From the sounds of things you were also putting some distance between you," he argued.

"He's not the only one and you might be right. It might be just as much because of me as it is because of them. Only three people treat me the same way now as they did before he was here: Naruto, Master Jiraiya, and you," she pointed weakly. "Everyone else, something's changed. It's almost painful to have so many people pull away from me so suddenly," she complained.

"I didn't realize. Perhaps if you didn't display his mark so openly," he motioned to the way she toyed with the charm around her neck as she thought of him.

"I told him I wouldn't take it off until I saw him again," she replied quietly. It was a promise she had made without thinking.

"I'm sure he wouldn't know if you removed it every once in a while," he reasoned carefully.

"I'm sure he would," she smiled and received a look of disbelief. "It's okay. Sasuke hardly believes it himself. I told him I could prove it to him; you know he's gotten very good a copying my abilities," she digressed for a moment, "If I were you, I'd make him do something with it, practice on someone besides me."

"How do you know he doesn't?"

"Because his chakra rarely changes. He doesn't absorb anyone else's but mine. He can tell when I've recently been with someone else because of the changes in my chakra," she explained.

"What's this got to do with Ebisu?" Kakashi gave her an odd look.

She blinked for a second, "Nothing, really. I'm just saying. I only brought it up because Sasuke said he wouldn't even fool around with me while I wear it. Anyway, about Ebisu, I think he was starting to have more than a crush on me. He started saying really romantic things, told me I was a saint or an angel or something. Now he questions my sanity. He reminds me of a few people I knew before I came here. He wants to be supportive, I know that for sure…but he doesn't want to understand what's happening."

"I see, well, I'm sorry but I can't change who goes with you on such short notice, not unless you want to arrive late to the party. Besides, it sounds like this'll be the perfect opportunity for you to work things out," Kakashi reasoned.

Calixta nodded, "I understand. Tell'im we'll meet at the west gate, just after sunrise," she requested.

* * *

About a day after Calixta and Ebisu left for the Sand Village, Kakashi sat down with Sasuke. That afternoon, Kakashi really wasn't up for beating around the bush, so he got right to what was on his mind.

"How's your independent training with Calixta going?" he asked.

Sasuke started at the suddenness of the question but quickly recovered. "I think I've gotten as much out of her as I can," he answered evenly. "But we do still practice occasionally."

"That's not what I hear. Calixta mentioned that you cut her off," he teased.

Sasuke looked away. "It was no longer productive."

"Not productive, or not fun?" the instructor haughtily inquired.

"I'm sure she's still fun," he dryly replied, completely unamused by the playful way his sensei was broaching such an embarrassing subject.

"So then, can I assume that you've grasped her abilities well enough that you no longer feel it is productive to train with her?" the grey-haired man pressed.

"So it would seem," Sasuke lied.

"Then you should really take this to the next level," he advised.

"The next level?" the teen blinked stupidly. He knew what that had meant when Kakashi said that to Calixta, which gave him a pretty good idea what it meant for him.

"Well, yes, I mean, what good is an ability only half-cultivated? If you really think you can handle it, I think you should push yourself," he suggested.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that yet," Sasuke blushed.

"But you just said-" he argued.

"I-It's not just me," the dark-haired teen managed, in spite of his inability to make eye contact.

"Oh? So it is unproductive for Calixta as well then? Or is it something else?" Kakashi pressed.

His sensei's insistence took Sasuke aback for a moment. "I've never tried to put it into words before…but something's changed about her since she and Gaara got together. I could feel it even after the first time they were together and it's only grown since then."

"What is it? What do you think has changed?"

Sasuke sat in contemplation for a long moment before answering. He only wanted to have to explain it once. "It used to be that after we were done training, so to speak, her chakra felt more stable. She said it was that way after most of her encounters, unless something went wrong or got weird or something," he looked up to see if he was making sense.

"And now?" Kakashi prompted after a quick little nod of understanding.

"After they're together, she's the most stable I've ever felt her and being with other people seems to mess that up…So, I told her we were done, at least for a while," he hastily added.

Kakashi frowned. She had never told him that and even though she had shown him how she felt, the impression was too chaotic to convey that kind of balance. He wondered if it was intentional on her part or if she had yet to realize it herself. With as distracted as she was by the novelty and intensity of the feelings she was experiencing, he allowed himself to believe she was barely aware of it at best.

"Is there anything else?" Sasuke shifted uncomfortably.

"So for her sake, you stopped. That's very admirable of you. Though, at this point you could likely have anyone you wanted, at least for a little while," Kakashi half-taunted.

"Sensei!" Sasuke gasped with disbelief.

"I know that just because the two of you have spent so much time together doesn't mean you've changed your values to match hers. You would use it to take advantage of someone else if the situation called for it," he stated.

"I-I suppose that if it was the most efficient approach, I would be obliged to take it," Sasuke warily agreed.

"Abilities like those would be perfect for an assassin," Kakashi commented, "When I told that to Calixta, she slapped me," he laughed.

"Yeah, I can see her doing that," the teen nodded.

"But you didn't even flinch at the idea," the older man pointed out.

"I'm not an idiot," he dryly replied.

Kakashi's smile grew. "No, not usually. But in all seriousness, you really think he's good for her?"

"I don't know for sure…but judging from that, I'd be willing to bet he is. And she seems to be fairly good for him. He actually had a conversation with me while he was here. We didn't talk about anything important, but he didn't threaten to kill me."

Kakashi laughed. "I suppose that's something." Shortly after, he thanked his student for his candor, assured his privacy, and said good bye.

"Oh," Sasuke remembered something else. "There is one more thing. I'm not sure if it's important, but it is kinda weird," he turned back for a moment. When Kakashi seemed interested, he continued. "He says he can tell if she's been with someone. I don't know if that's true, but it's not something I've ever been able to do."

"Interesting, thank you," Kakashi nodded and closed the door.

After a few hours of thinking, he decided to ambush Jiraiya at the ladies' bath again to get another perspective.

"Kakashi, to what do I owe the pleasure?" the old master asked sarcastically.

Since the older man didn't seem inclined to relocate, Kakashi settled into a peeping spot of his own.

"You want to talk about Calixta," Jiraiya grimly assumed.

"I didn't say that but yes," he nodded.

"You didn't have to. That's what you wanted to talk to me about the last time you interrupted me here. It's not fair you know," he gruffly accused.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi barely asked, worried that he had offended the other man in some way, and might not get the discussion he desired.

"You come here to talk to me about the most beautiful young lady I've ever met. It makes things here look a bit less exciting by comparison."

"Oh, I didn't realize…" Kakashi managed, bewildered by the other man's wilted fantasy. "Perhaps another time then," he shifted to his feet.

"You're already here. You might as well get it over with," the older man snapped playfully.

"Uh, okay. Thanks," Kakashi sat back down.

"She let me peep at her once. In fact, I think she came to the baths because she knew I'd be watching," Jiraiya mused. "Just watching her wash her hair, I'm not sure if it took twenty years off my life or gave'em back," he chuckled.

The younger man swallowed hard at the thought. "She never mentioned that."

"That one's got hips like her. See'er on the right, with the short blonde hair?" he gave a vague hand motion for emphasis.

"I suppose she does," Kakashi mused and then shook his head to gather his thoughts, realizing that Jiraiya was using the distraction to keep their discussion from getting too serious. "I'll try to make this quick. I only really have one question. What do you think about her and Gaara?"

Jiriaya smirked. "That kid's a brat," he laughed. "But he seems to amuse her well enough."

"You think that's all it is?" Kakashi pressed, stunned that the old master might be oblivious to the deeper feelings the young woman had for the unstable sand ninja.

"Of course not. That little shit can tell who she's had sex with, ya know," he added almost bitterly.

"So I've heard," he wryly replied. "I take it you don't like him."

He laughed. "Actually, I can't bring myself to dislike him very much. Between his battle with Naruto and now this, he might shape up to be a decent person. He's just incredibly rude to me, that's all."

Kakashi found himself laughing with the older man. "Ah, I believe I understand. Thank you," he earnestly added.

"You remember what I said last time, right?" Jiraiya asked chidingly.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it a lot lately," he admitted as he shifted to his feet.

"Leaving already? You're gunna miss my favorite part. Tsunade usually gets here about now," he winked.

"I believe I've intruded long enough. Have a good evening." Kakashi took his leave a moment later. He wondered if maybe he should have at least tried to find someone else for Calixta to go with but pushed the feeling aside because the damage was done.

* * *

Eibsu and Calixta hardly spoke during their first full day of travel. It was only as they were making camp for the night that they said anything of any sort of meaning to each other. Sometimes Satu ran along beside them, other times she carried her.

"I can tell you don't really want to be here so if you wanted to take off for about a week or so, we could meet up on our way back," she bargained. "No one will ever know," she promised.

"You wanna get rid of me that bad?" he assumed.

"No, if I wanted to get rid of you, I wouldn't ask what you wanted to do," she answered smartly, "and you'd already be gone by now."

Ebisu frowned with disappointment. "Why are you antagonizing me?"

"Because that's what you want me to do," she laughed.

He could tell she was trying to push him away, not that she was trying to hide it. "Thanks, but I'm gunna stick around at least until we get there. I hear this festival's a pretty big party so I'm not going to bother keeping track of you. If you need me, come find me," he told her evenly.

Calixta smiled. "Yeah, okay. That works too," she nodded.

"So, that is it? Are we even still friends anymore?" he sneered.

"Would you believe me if I told you that's entirely up to you?"

"I should expect you to say things like that, like you know so much," Ebisu scoffed as he started the fire.

"You don't want him to be a good person, so why should I even try?" she finally snapped.

"Stop acting like you give a damn about what I want," he retorted.

"I still care for you but you need to realize that things aren't going to turn out how you want them to. You've already started blaming me for it so I thought a little extra consideration on my part might let you know I'm not completely indifferent toward you," she reasoned carefully.

"Well, don't bother. You've already cut yourself off from me so much that a few empty gestures really won't do much good. Do what you want. I don't care," he walked away to set up the rest of his things.

He was right about one thing, she had cut herself off from him, but it was more of a defense mechanism than a conscious act. He was directing so much negative energy toward her at that point that she had to or she might break down and cry right there. Her poor pup suffered the brunt of his aggravation as a result and she spent most of the rest of their trip comforting the little thing so she wouldn't run away or snap at Ebisu.

They were around halfway there when Gaara realized that she was getting closer to him. It hit him while they were eating one evening and he actually gasped aloud at the notion.

"What is it?" Kankuro asked carefully.

Gaara didn't answer because he didn't hear the question. He was too focused on verifying his initial hunch.

"Oi, Gaara!" Temari waved her hand in front of his face.

That gesture managed to get a fair portion of his attention. "What?" he hissed listlessly.

"Is there something the matter?" she pressed.

Gaara looked out of the corner of his eye at his brother, who appeared genuinely confused by the look. "She's getting closer," he muttered.

"What?" Temari questioned impatiently, "Who are you talking about?"

"You mean Calixta, don't you?" Kankuro surmised from the expression on his brother's face.

"No, that's silly," Temari dismissed. "Why would she come here?"

Just then Baki appeared behind her. He had been keeping an eye on Gaara all day, waiting to see if his student would notice her approach or if he could be surprised. "Because I told her about the festival," he suddenly interjected.

"You what?" Gaara suddenly leveled his gaze on his sensei. He wasn't sure if he was angry yet but he felt tricked, and that was enough to make his temper flair. When he eventually decided he was not very angry, he stood.

"Where are you going?" Kankuro asked cautiously.

"I'm going to meet her," he curtly replied.

"No, you're not," Baki was quick to argue.

"Why not?" Gaara stopped but didn't turn back.

"You still have obligations to fulfill between now and when she gets here, not the least of which is cleaning your house because that's where she'll be staying, I'm sure," Baki informed flatly.

The young ninja could tell he was being tested. His sensei was trying to gauge what kind of attraction he was dealing with and, more than that, he was testing Gaara's assertion that he was not under the young woman's control. So, he reluctantly turned back, knowing that more compliance now would earn him greater freedoms in the days to come.

"Good. That bed isn't going to move itself," he winked and almost laughed when the innuendo made Gaara blush angrily. So, before the young man stormed away in a rage, he added, "She'll need some place to sleep so you'll have to find some kind of bed for her to use while she's staying with you," he seriously advised.

"You're letting them stay together?" Temari gasped.

"You didn't make any complaints when Gaara stayed with Calixta on your last mission together," Baki reminded.

Temari frowned.

"Good, I'm glad that's settled. Now, you better get to work, she'll be here any day now," he chided and walked off.

Gaara gave a sigh of defeat and walked away. When his siblings opened their mouths to speak, they immediately started to taste sand. It wasn't enough to cause any real harm, just a threat they both yielded to. Neither said a word as their younger brother went home.

"That was weird," Kankuro quietly said a few long minutes later.

Temari rolled her eyes. "I can't believe he's encouraging them!"

"Sounds like you did too," Kankuro chided.

"I didn't encourage them…he just wouldn't let me discourage them," she weakly reasoned.

"I'm gunna see if he needs any help," the older brother finally decided.

Temari nodded and finished her meal by herself.

The following afternoon, as Gaara was utilizing his sand manipulation to sweep his floors, there was a knock on his door.

"Enter," he called from across the room. "What do you want?" he growled when he saw who it was.

"I was wondering if you had a place for her to sleep set up yet," he broached.

"Why the fuck do you care?" he snapped defensively.

Kankuro took a moment to apologize for the intrusion and let him know that if he was going to find a spare bed, he should do it soon because with the influx of travelers during the festival, stuff like that would quickly becoming a short supply. He received a curt thank you and no acknowledgement for the apology. "If you want, I can go get that stuff for you. I don't have anything else to do today," he offered.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Will it get you out of my house without having to hurt you if I say yes?"

"For a while at least," he smiled.

"Fine," he agreed and when his brother was gone, he breathed a sigh of relief, which only lasted about ten minutes because there was another knock on his door. "What is it now?" he yelled.

"It's Temari. Can I come in?" she asked hopefully through the door.

"Whatever," he agreed with a grumble. "What's that? What do you have there?" he hurried over from across the room to see what his sister was carrying into his home.

"When you moved out on your own, I always wanted to give you a house warming present but well, I never knew what to get you that you might actually use," she began carefully as she pulled a coffee maker from the box and started setting it up for him in his kitchen. "The place looks good, not that it ever looked bad."

"I don't care what you think of it," Gaara growled as he followed her into his little kitchen. "So, you got me a coffee maker?" he almost laughed when he got a good look at it.

She motioned to the box and he reached inside to find just about everything else he would need, coffee, filters, even a few different flavored creamers. Before he could argue, she started a pot. "There should be a few cups in there as well, wrapped in paper," she motioned again.

Curious, he reached in again to find a set of four black coffee cups. "Why four?" he asked.

"Because that's how they're sold," she replied simply.

"Thank you?" he gave her an odd look.

"Whatever," she dismissed.

Just as they were sitting down for a cup of hot coffee, Kankuro returned. "What's all this?" he asked as he carried in a bundle of sheets.

"Coffee, you wanna cup?" Temari offered.

"No, thanks," he nodded before turning back to their brother, "Where do you want this stuff?"

"Just stack it there by the door," Gaara replied.

Kankuro nodded and obliged. Then, he stepped back outside for a moment to bring in the mattress.

"Thanks," he didn't look at his brother as he spoke.

"Whatever," he shrugged. "See ya later," he ducked back out.

A few minutes later, Temari stood and rinsed out her empty coffee cup to set in the sink.

"What's the matter?" Gaara finally asked with a tone that said he thought he shouldn't have to do such a thing. He felt that she should either speak her mind or let it go.

"I hope she doesn't disappoint you," Temari said quietly as she gathered her things to leave.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he stood between her and the door.

"Just that if you actually give a shit about her, I don't want you to be disappointed if things don't work out," she managed.

"I appreciate your concern," he sarcastically snapped, "but you're assuming I want more from her than what we already have," he added smartly.

She only nodded and he allowed her to leave.

Finally, as he was sitting in his doorway, watching the sky darken, Baki approached.

"How close is she?" he asked as he drew closer.

Gaara closed his eyes. "She's stopped for the night but she'll be here tomorrow, probably before noon," he answered.

Baki gave an impressed nod. "Thank you for humoring me today."

Gaara scoffed. Once he had gotten home, he realized that he would have to clean up if he was going to have company, something that never happened before.

"She's your first houseguest, isn't she?"

The young man nodded.

"Once the festival starts, I want you to take it as a vacation, okay? I don't think you've ever had one of those either," he half-joked.

"Why are you doing this? Is this some sort of test or something?" the teen finally snapped.

"Not at all," Baki looked up at the sky. "As much as I don't care for her myself, it's apparent that keeping you apart would be even more painful than sleeping with scorpions," he continued almost teasingly.

Gaara almost laughed but managed to keep it to himself. "If you say so," he shrugged instead. With the sun finally set, he went back inside without so much as a glance at his sensei.

Baki didn't care; he had gotten his point across and that was all that mattered to him.

* * *

The following morning, Ebisu was the first to wake and not of his own will. At first, he smiled when he heard Calixta moaning in her tent a few feet from his own but he quickly realized that she wasn't thinking about him. It made him grumble as he wiggled out of his sleeping bag and exited his tent. "Ah-hem," he forced a cough as he started to stoke the fire. If she had just stopped then and there, he wouldn't have said anything about it. She did quiet a bit after the sound but didn't seem to care.

He let her go for another few minutes but after that, he couldn't take it anymore. It took most of his self control to tap rudely on the side of her tent, rather than kicking it, as he initially wanted to. "Hey!" he persisted when she didn't acknowledge him but still didn't receive any response from inside other than that of her waking puppy.

Another grumble later and he was on a knee and opening the flap to her tent. He went to grab one of her ankles through her sleeping bag but something stopped him. She was so still, save a little twitch or gasp every so often. His eyes tracked up from her feet to see only her head and one of her hands was uncovered. Her face told him everything, "She's still asleep…" he gasped quietly to himself.

As soon as the pang of guilt hit him for assuming the worst about her, she started to actually stir. He froze, wondering if he should wait and see if she went back to sleep or just bolt. This moment of indecision, mixed with curiosity, was what got him caught.

"Ebisu?" she asked as she slowly cracked one sleepy eye.

"Uh, yeah…"

"I'm sorry I slept in. I'll be ready to go shortly," she promised when she noticed the sun was already on the rise.

A brief moment of shock rushed through Ebisu at the idea that she didn't realize what she was doing. "Y-Yeah, okay…don't take all day," he muttered, closing the door-flap.

As promised, she was ready in a matter of minutes and they ate their breakfast as the walked.

"How'd you sleep?" he finally asked once they had found a good path, unable to help himself any longer.

She gave a distant little smile before answering, "Better than expected," she admitted. Satu added her own happy little yap of affirmation.

"That's what it sounded like," he teasingly chided.

A momentary critical look later, Calixta frowned at him. "I'm sorry…I didn't realize. You should have woken me sooner then," she tried.

Eibsu sighed; it wasn't as much fun when she backed down immediately. "I thought you were masturbating," he boldly admitted, hoping to elicit a better response from her.

She blushed deeply, "Uh, no…I was…dreaming," she stammered.

"About him?" he didn't bother to look at her as he asked.

"He knows we're coming now," she told him seriously.

"Wait, he didn't know you were coming?" he accusingly inquired.

"His sensei sent the invitation, as a surprise…maybe even as a test," she mused.

Ebisu gave an indignant grumble. He didn't like the idea of catching the young sand ninja off guard about these kinds of things because it just made him that much more unpredictable.

"He was letting me know that he's conscious of my movements…at least when we're this close," she added.

"How does that make you feel?" he pressed curiously.

"What, are you my therapist now?" she teased.

"You're the one who brought it up. I was just trying to make conversation," he shrugged, trying not to care.

"Well, since I'm not sure you'll believe me no matter what I say, I might as well tell you the truth. I didn't think I'd like such a thing but actually, I find an odd sense of security knowing that he can sense me that well," she admitted.

Ebisu shook his head in exasperation.

"I know it's hard for you to understand and if I could show you how I feel, I would…but I already showed one person and I don't think Gaara would appreciate me even doing that," she added almost regretfully.

"Who's that?"

"It was Kakashi-sensei," she admitted.

Ebisu shrugged. He knew that even though the younger man and Calixta slept together fairly often, their relationship was clearly defined as professional within the limits of her abilities. "You always told me how much you hated it when your lovers were possessive or jealous," he reminded. He was fairly sure they both knew that it was reminders such as those that kept him from trying to make their relationship into anything more than a very loose courtship.

"And you think that Gaara is those things?" she assumed knowingly. She intended it to be a rhetorical question and was about to agree with it but he spoke first.

"You didn't see the way he looked at me when he answered the door the day before your birthday," he informed, "but I know you noticed how he reacted to just the idea that you and I had plans."

"Actually, you're right and I was about to agree with you…but he did let us go without making a big deal about it," she added. "Come on, let's pick up the pace. I bet if we don't slack off, we can get there in time for lunch," she coaxed but mostly because she was tired of cooking for him.

He nodded and it practically became a race from there.

"So," Ebisu continued when he caught up with her the first time, "what makes him so special then?"

She gave him a hopeful little smile, "You figure it out," she suggested, realizing that Ebisu would feel much better about the whole thing if he came to the realization himself. She just wished that she would have realized that sooner, that way she wouldn't have wasted the effort of trying to get him to listen to her.

Gaara's estimation was off by about two hours. He had expected her to arrive around eleven but he was left waiting at one. Having grown weary of pacing near the western gate, he sat listlessly on his front steps.

"We should check in with Baki before parting ways," Ebisu advised.

"Of course. I believe his office is this way," she led him away.

"You know your way around here pretty well for only having been here a couple days months ago," he commented.

"I didn't do much while I was here but I did pay attention," she curtly replied.

Gaara heard her voice at the end of the street and without even looking to make sure it was her, he bolted over. He smirked at the small sound of surprise she made when he appeared suddenly before her. It only took her a second to regain her composure and smile widely at him as Satu barked and tried to jump from her arms to his.

Ebisu was about to say something when the short sand ninja looked up at him, making distrustful eye contact. Then, before he could speak, Gaara scooped up Calixta and disappeared, leaving a little message in the sand where they had been standing. It said_, Later, Loser_. He growled and kicked the sand, effectively erasing the message.

"Sorry about that," Baki suddenly stepped out of his office.

The younger man leveled his gaze on the sand ninja, "It's nothing. If you saw that I got her here unharmed, that's all I need. He can have'er," he gave a dismissive motion in the direction Gaara had carried Calixta.

Baki nodded. "You've come a long way. Have you eaten lunch yet?" After a few more minutes of coaxing, he managed to get the annoyed leaf ninja to come with him for lunch and a drink.

Gaara didn't waste time in taking her to his home, plopping her down on the bed, and lifting her shirt. "You're already leaking," he taunted, happy that Satu seemed content to nap on the front porch in the sun.

Calixta who was already flushed with excitement, blushed a little deeper from mild embarrassment.

"And so full…" he gave the one he wasn't lapping at a slight squeeze.

She gasped at the sudden pressure, not just on her breast but around her entire being. Her eyes grew wide as she looked down at him. `

When Gaara saw fit to peek upward, he saw her staring at him, well, not exactly at him. It was almost as though she was looking right through him, or maybe into him. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously a few minutes later.

She gave an affectionate little giggle. This was one of the things that she really liked about him. For some reason, he didn't seem to care whether or not she used her chakra when they were together. She knew from experience that she could ask her partner not to care but that always backfired. Not that her past lovers hadn't tried to do as she asked, some of them doing fairly well. However, she was quickly realizing how poor a substitute that was to having Gaara not care either way.

Her giggle and the way she was light scratching his scalp made something in Gaara's brain snap and before he realized what he was doing, he was pushing her down onto her back.

"You never wear pants," he commented when he started unbuttoning her fly.

"They're more comfortable to travel in," she managed to reply. That was another thing that endeared her toward him. When she used enough force to make most people forget their own names, he said the strangest things. That didn't necessarily mean he could remember his name but it did intrigue her.

"Why did you bring _him_ with you," he asked through a little nibble.

"Ah, finally a serious question," she teased. "He was sent with me, to make sure I got here in one piece."

"When does he leave?"

"When I do. He's staying for the festival but I think that's about all we'll see of him," she mused almost sadly.

"Good," he grumbled. "I must have over estimated how much he liked you."

"Or under estimated," she added quietly but even if he did hear, he wasn't inclined to respond.

He found he had to hold her hips to keep her from wiggling too much. "Excited, ne?" he taunted as he switched breasts half way through finishing the one he started.

"You did get a jump start on me this morning," she reminded.

Gaara grinned against her breast, "I was wondering how that worked out for you. I hope it wasn't _too_ inconvenient," he added hopefully.

"It was the best dream I've ever had," she told him as seriously as she could through the little sounds of pleasure he caused in her.

"A dream? You were asleep?" he nearly awed.

She nodded and reached down between her legs to start rubbing herself through her pants.

Her abandon made Gaara light headed and he had to ease up a bit or risk losing his bearings entirely.

"But I woke up before we could finish," she ventured, wondering that since it wasn't an outright lie, if he would pick up on it.

If he did, he didn't seem to care. "When are you ever finished?" he smirked.

Using the hand that was still in his hair, she tried to pull him upward.

"Is something that matter?" he asked knowingly when her swollen nipple popped from his lips.

"Kiss me," she requested in a husky voice.

He licked his lips at the thought but fought her anyway. "No, I'm busy," he told her childishly. Then, before she could speak again, he went back to what he was doing, even more determined than before. He could feel her desire to kiss him welling up inside him but his mouth was already on her skin and taking in every bit of her essence as he possibly could.

She pulled his hair, almost desperately, at his defiance. So, to placate her somewhat, he took his other hand from off her hip and grabbed her hand, the one that was just leaving the warmth between her legs. Without hesitation, he put it back in place, with his lying protectively on top, encouraging her to proceed.

When she moaned, rolling her head from side to side, at the feeling of his hand mimicking her own, adding his own pressure and warmth, he felt a warm pulse in his groin. The feeling made him gasp and almost forget what he was doing.

"That's not going to work," he chided a few a moments to start becoming accustomed to the feeling.

Calixta whined fitfully, "It's not intentional."

"Then what is it?" he prompted.

"You want it to…" she continued to whine.

He knew that wasn't a lie but he found it curious that she was so much more eager than he was. "What's the rush? We have a whole week," he teased.

She looked down at him, baffled, but only for a second. After a second of eye contact, she understood what was happening. He was pushing his desire onto her to strengthen his own resolve; he was feeding the leech, so to speak, to see what would happen. He wanted to see if he could overload her senses but he knew he had to pace himself to do such a thing.

To his surprise, once she caught on to what he was doing, she started to help him. He could feel her acquiesce and it sent a ripple through him. This sensation, however, left him feeling oddly lucid and when he looked up at her face, he could see she was practically swimming. It was only because of how focused her gaze on him was. Every other part of her became instinctively responsive to his advances.

Without thinking, she slipped her hand out from beneath his to place hers on top and guide his motions. When her gasps and moans started to become urgent, Gaara pulled back a bit, marveling at the way her body arched toward him when he raised his head to look at her. She made no protest and he knew it was because he still kept one hand between her legs.

"Could you cum like this?" he asked curiously. It was something he'd been thinking about for at least the last several minutes but he couldn't quite tell so he decided to ask.

She almost laughed because that was just what she had been trying not to do. "If you kiss me I won't be able to help myself," she playfully admitted.

Gaara actually took a moment to think about whether or not he wanted to test that but before he could decide, she spoke again.

"Is that what you want?" she asked in a serious, husky voice.

"Don't you _know_ what I want?" he retorted almost dangerously. "And what about what you want?"

Calixta closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying herself as much as she could. "I-I don't understand what you're feeling," she admitted. She felt so much both from him and from within, that she was having a hard time making sense of it all so quickly. "You're satisfied…but you want more…" she managed.

"Sounds like you understand pretty well to me," he shrugged and started lightly patting her crotch.

"Knowing something and understanding it are two different things," she tried not to snap.

"Semantics," he dismissed as he went back to her breasts to finish what he started.

It took her until he was nearly finished before she realized what he wanted. He certainly wouldn't complain if that was all he got out of this initial encounter so he wanted her to do as she pleased. He wanted to hold himself back some to savor every moment he could and part of that was enjoying the pleasure she got from him from such minimal attention.

With that, she let go of trying to control her orgasm, letting him take the remainder of her resolve as his own and a minute or so later, she was coming for him. As she felt post-orgasmic euphoria start to wash over her, she also felt how pleased he was and wrapped her arms and legs around him to hold him close.

Before she was completely recovered, he detangled himself from her grip and scooped her up.

"I have legs ya know," she teased, a dazed little smile dancing across her lips.

He just laughed at her contrived indignation and dropped her in the tub. "Get cleaned up, we're goin' out tonight," he told her before walking out but he stopped just as he ducked around the door frame.

Calixta giggled almost stupidly as she undressed, tossed her clothes out the door, and started the bathwater. When the water was quieted a few minutes later, she could still hear him sitting down outside the bathroom.

"You don't have to sit outside," she told him playfully.

"I will sit where I please," he evenly replied.

"So you will," she nodded. "Then I'll put my request this way: Would it please you to call me Cali?"

"What for?" he almost snapped. "That's what that old man calls you."

"He does it because he thinks it's cute and I let him because I like that name better. It's what people called me before my chakra was unlocked. It means star where I'm from," she told him.

"What's the rest mean?"

"Fallen," she replied quietly.

"My name means self-loving demon," he answered. "Should I change my name as well?" He liked who she was and what she was. The idea that she wanted to shed her identity really bothered him.

"I could call you Ai-sama," she offered impishly.

"What?" he exclaimed incredulously.

She giggled a little before growing serious again. "Besides, I don't want everyone to call me that, just you," she added.

"What about the old man?"

"He, like you, will do as he pleases but if you asked him not to, he might very well oblige, at least when you're around," she answered smartly. "But would you really want to reveal that much of us to him like that?"

He nodded, which went unappreciated. "Hurry up," he told her as he stood and walked away. She emerged a little while later, wrapped in a towel, and searching for where he had dropped her things. "That's _my_ towel," he pointed out as he watched her search.

"There wasn't another one," she answered distractedly. "But don't worry, I'm sure I can find one while we're out."

He quirked an odd look but she didn't see it because she had her back turned as she rooted through the larger bag she brought. He really wasn't worried about it, just giving her a hard time for so easily using his things.

"What should I wear?" she asked him seriously.

"I don't care. Wear whatever you want," he scoffed. There was no way he was going to get pulled into a discussion like that.

"Okay…Is there anything I shouldn't wear?" she tried again.

"Wear what you want. Don't try to conform to the village standards," he advised. "Others will be able to tell you're trying to fit in when you clearly don't."

At first she was offended by the way he said that but when she realized he hadn't meant it that way, she nodded.

"They will think less of your village if you don't display some personal pride," he added.

With an armful of clothes and a slipping towel, he watched Calixta scurry off to his bedroom but she only stayed there for a moment before going to the bathroom. Again, she only stayed there for a second before emerging.

"What's the matter?" he asked when he saw how perplexed she was.

"You don't have any mirrors, do you?" she almost giggled.

"No…" he replied. "Should I?"

Amused, she set her clothes on the kitchen counter and dropped her towel. "You'll just have to tell me if everything's on straight then," she taunted.

He had been thinking about where he could find a mirror for her right up until she said that. Then he decided he might never get one. Knowing it would be hot, Calixta chose a sundress and tied her leaf crest around her waist.

He nodded in approval as she picked up her things to stash them back in her bag.

"So, where are we goin'?" she asked cheerfully as she put on her sandals and called Satu off the porch.

"The festival starts tonight with a feast," he answered.

There were so many different kinds of foods that she didn't know where to start. Once she had a full plate, they sat down outside one of the little diners. "All of this looks so good! You're going to have to roll me home," she giggled. "Aren't you getting some? Or are you still full from earlier?" she teased.

"You're not going to be able to eat all that by yourself, even if Satu helps you and I have to roll her back too," he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and grabbed a shrimp from her plate.

When they were finished eating, they wandered around, looking at some of the shops, and talked.

"You've still got that necklace I gave you," he finally mentioned.

"Of course I do. It's very easy to keep track of when I never take it off," she pointed out.

She was too busy admiring the little charm around her neck to notice others approaching them on the street. So, she gasped with surprise when he grabbed her and finally kissed her. She melted into his embrace without thinking.

"Maybe we shouldn't say hi," Temari quietly requested as she walked with Baki, Ebisu, and Kankuro in their general direction.

"Nonsense," Baki dismissed.

"He's just showin' off," Kankuro laughed. "Can't say I blame'im."

Ebisu rolled his eyes but didn't offer his opinion.

Gaara continued to ignore them until they were standing only a few feet away and Baki was conspicuously clearing his throat.

"Fuck off, I'm on vacation," he snapped with a brief glare over his shoulder.

With a shrug, they walked way.

"Told ya," Temari grumbled.

"That was very rude," Calixta pointed out as she watched them walk off, obviously disappointed.

"If you're gunna be here the whole week, I'm sure you'll see plenty of them. For tonight, I want your full attention," he answered surely.

"Fair enough," she nodded. His insistence and the way his chakra lightly flared gave her a warm little rush.

"It's getting dark, come on," he led her down the street to the city center. It was decorated with different colored lamps and various other ornaments, whose meanings she was left to decipher on her own, and at the center sat a dry fountain. He led her to the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the square.

When she saw that others were also quickly starting to gather, her curiosity grew. Because he enjoyed her almost childish anticipation so much, she decided not to ask what was going to happen, rather sit and watch to see for herself.

Once the last rays of sunlight were gone, torches were lit and a group of people dressed in elaborate costumes filed into the center around the fountain. Without any cue she could see, the music started and the people started dancing. She found the whole thing so delightful that she almost got up and started dancing herself. "This is marvelous!" she told him, unable to tear her eyes away. If she had, she would have noticed he wasn't watching the spectacle; he was watching her.

Gaara couldn't help laughing a little as Satu barked excitedly at the commotion and danced around, trying to see and hear more without falling off the roof.

She was practically feeding off the enormous energy created by the crowd. Gaara, himself, had never enjoyed the festival. For him, it was just another thing that he wasn't allowed to be a part of. There were times when he tried, but it never panned out. She was experiencing it for the first time, her experience completely untainted and Gaara was allowed to experience that through her.

About an hour of dancing later, she turned to him. "How long will they dance?" she asked, awestruck.

"Until it rains," he answered simply.

"How long does it usually take them to get it to rain?" she tried again.

"You don't actually believe they make it rain," he scoffed.

"Have the rains ever come when they didn't dance?" she pressed.

"They've always danced. They do it every year," he dismissed.

"And it rains every year?" she surmised.

"Of course it does but it's not because of them," he insisted.

Calixta gave a playful pout, "If you were the Kazekage, would you tell them not to dance because you think it doesn't effect the weather?"

Gaara laughed incredulously at her and loud enough to draw a bit of attention, not that either cared. "Me? Kazekage? Yeah fuckin' right!"

His laughter made her impudent. "I never said you could be the Kazekage. I'm only asking you to think from that perspective," she pointed out petulantly.

"No, I'd let'em dance if they wanted to," he replied with a chuckle.

"And why is that?" she asked, hoping for some sort of revelation about how it brought people together.

"Sometimes people collapse out of exhaustion," he gave a dark smirk. "When I was eight, the dance lasted over a full day. I was…surprised," he almost said disappointed, "at how many of them were able to keep going for that long."

Just then, they felt the first tiny drops of rain, followed shortly by a torrential downpour that showed no signs of ever letting up. It caused, along with its own commotion as huge rain drops landed on everything and everyone all at once, a great cheer from the people below. She turned to watch the crowd as their joy washed over her and when Gaara didn't think she could smile any wider, he turned her face back and kissed her. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were making out on that rooftop in the pouring rain.

Once they were soaked to the bone, they decided to walk home.

"I'm totally drenched but it's so warm," she marveled.

"The first rain is always warm," he told her.

"There's a metaphor somewhere in that," she teased.

"More than one," he muttered, obviously disillusioned with such things.

She shouldn't have been surprised that most of the roofed establishments provided towels at the entryway and they procured several before making it to his porch where they could actually dry off. He wanted to stay out longer but he knew she was tired both from her journey and the excitement that followed so he decided to call it a night there.


	17. It pours

Late the following morning Kankuro _happened_ to walk by Gaara's house on his way back from his morning duties. He didn't expect to see anything but his effort was rewarded when he saw Calixta sitting with Satu on the narrow little bench that stretched along the length of Gaara's porch.

As he approached, he could see she was spacing out and she didn't notice him. "Good day!" he greeted through the rain.

"Oh, hello! Want a break from the rain?" she offered, sitting up a little to make space for him.

He nodded and once he was up the steps, he shook off his umbrella and set it aside to dry. "What do you think of the festival so far?" he asked as he sat down.

She smiled warmly up at him and then looked back out at the rain, taking a drag off her cigarette. "It's beautiful," she awed as she exhaled. Satu gave a little bark of agreement.

Kankuro sniffed the smoke as it wafted near him, "That's not tobacco," he pointed out, playfully accusatory.

"Smart boy," she chided, ashing it over the railing.

"You should probably do that inside," he advised.

"Oh?" she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if someone catches you, you could get in trouble," he advised. He didn't want her to have to leave over something so silly.

"But I got it at the festival last night," she pointed out after another drag.

"Yeah, well-" he tried to argue but she cut him off.

"I can see the headlines now, _Gaara's Mysterious Mistress Caught Smoking Dope on His Porch_," she giggled, "_Where did she come from? Why does she like him so much?_" she continued.

"Okay, okay, I get it," he relented. The pot wouldn't matter except it would give other people a reason to talk about them.

"Besides, with rain this heavy, you had to actually come up onto the porch to smell it," she pointed out playfully.

"I suppose," he agreed.

"Good," she nodded and tried to pass him the joint.

"What? Oh, I shouldn't," he tried to refuse.

She shrugged, "It's your call. I just figured that if you're not going to report me, that makes you my accomplice. Since you've already got that going for you, I thought you might want to enjoy it."

After her next drag, she offered it again and this time he accepted.

"It's been a while," he coughed but she didn't seem to mind. A few passes later, he spoke again. "C-Can I ask you something?"

She eyed him carefully, gauging his intoxication. Pleased that he was only mildly stoned, she agreed.

"Wh-When you and Gaara are together," he paused to look around, thinking his brother would viciously appear out of nowhere.

She laughed at his paranoia. "He left for the market shortly before you arrived."

Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief and gathered his thoughts again.

"What about when your brother and I are together?" she curiously pressed.

He felt pinned by her hazy stare. "I was…I was wondering…what's it like?" he managed, frustrated by his lack of eloquence.

She giggled again. "That's a weird question," she accused. "What do you mean? Surely you don't want me to tell you how good he is in bed," she winked.

Kankuro blushed, "Ah, no, not like that," he waved his arms in a gesture of innocence.

"Then what is it like?"

"I mean like…who's in charge?" he tried again.

"In charge?" she laughed.

"Yeah, I mean I know Gaara's a very dominant person but you've got more experience than he does," he reasoned.

She just shook her head and continued to laugh, "That's still a really weird question," she chided but when she saw that her teasing was starting to wound his pride, she placed a kind hand on his shoulder. "But since you decided to smoke with me, I'll humor you." She thought for a moment before actually answering, "There's really two answers to that question. Either the answer is neither of us, or both of us," she playfully told him.

"What's that mean?" he asked, feeling dazed.

"Well, either neither of us takes control, as you see it, or we both take turns leading," she answered seriously.

He wasn't expecting that. "Oh…"

"Why does that surprise you?" she curiously queried.

"Honestly…the idea that Gaara would want an equal relationship, I guess," he managed.

"He's still got a heart ya know," she added seriously.

"I never doubted it," he sighed. "Tell me about my brother," he quietly requested.

She giggled again, "I was just about to ask you the same thing…" She was about to try to answer him when Temari walked by.

"Kankuro?" she squinted through the rain and when she saw she was right, she hurried up on to the porch, happy to get out of the rain.

"Good afternoon," Calixta greeted and was pleased that this time her greeting wasn't cut off half way through.

"What are you doing?" the blonde asked suspiciously, eyeing the smoking object in her brother's hand.

"Enjoying the festival," Calixta merrily replied, Satu adding a happy little yap of her own.

The siblings stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Well, Kankuro-san, don't be so selfish," she motioned to the burning joint, "Share with your sister."

With a silly grin, the young man obliged, "Here, sis," he barely kept himself from bursting out laughing.

"You're both unbelievable," she rolled her eyes, snatching the little thing from her brother's hand.

"If you're gunna be mad, can I have that back?" Calixta asked, carefully reaching out to take it back. This time Satu took up a more defensive posture.

"If I'm not?" she asked curiously, examining her prize.

"Then take your drag and pass it along," she advised. "And have a seat, if you like."

"Where's Gaara?" Temari asked carefully.

She took a moment to clumsily explain, "He probably won't be much longer."

The blonde set down her umbrella but didn't sit down as she took her first drag. Kankuro giggled foolishly when she coughed and sputtered but that quickly stopped when he received a look of scolding from the young woman sitting next to him as well as a disappointed little whine from the dog half laying in her lap. "Uh, yeah, right…sorry," he managed as his sister passed it back to Calixta.

It only lasted another round but just as she threw the roach over the railing, Baki happened by. No one else would have bothered them about it. He picked it up, examined it, and stormed onto the porch.

"What the hell are you thinking? Are you even thinking?" he scolded.

Sensing the mutual panic of the two teenage ninja, Calixta took matters into her own hands, mostly so her pup wouldn't start to bark defensively. "Damn. If it's really gunna be that big of a deal, you can have it," she reached into her blouse and pulled out a little bag, tossing it to the older man. "I was hoping to have a nice peaceful smoke and here everyone who stops to talk to me rags on me for it."

Baki caught the little package and shoved it into his pocket. Then, he took Calixta harshly by the arm, pulling her to her feet, enraged by her indignity and annoyed at the way her dog stumbled out of her lap. "You're coming with me. We're gunna have a little discussion," he informed her.

"Fine," she grumbled as she slipped her shoes on.

"As for the two of you," he thought for a moment. "You wait here until Gaara returns so you can tell him what happened."

"He should be back any minute now," Calixta interjected. "Why not wait for him?"

"Don't argue with me. You're in enough trouble as it is," he snapped. Then, he handed Calixta one of his student's umbrellas as he led her off the porch. She barely caught Satu to carry with her before stepping out into the rain.

They didn't speak as he led her away from Gaara's home and as much as he'd hoped that would intimidate her, she didn't seem to care. He led her to his office. "Sit down," he told her.

She shrugged and complied.

"Good." He pulled out the bag from his pants and let it drop onto the desk, watching as she flinched. At first, he thought it was because she was nervous but he quickly realized it was because she was hoping he wouldn't spill any. He asked her where she got it.

She answered that it was another young woman in a ladies' room the night before. Face, place, and time, however, were apparently beyond her memory. To her surprise, he didn't care very much about that omission, which meant he was fishing for something a little deeper.

"Have you shared it with Gaara?" he asked seriously.

"Nope," she smirked and when he breathed a sigh of relief, she continued. "He hasn't shown an interest yet. But after all this, I'm sure he'll be very curious about it," she added smartly.

Baki rolled his eyes, annoyed that Satu seemed to be laughing at him. "Do not let me catch you doing that with my students ever again," he warned.

Calixta's smirk grew. "Fair enough." She caught him staring down the little bag as though it was his enemy. "You wanna blaze?" she asked impishly.

"I think you've had enough," he scoffed.

She laughed. "You didn't say no," she chided, pulling a little package of rolling papers from her blouse.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded when she reached for the bag.

"I'm gunna leave you a little present, as a thanks for letting me off the hook so easy," she winked and started to roll him a joint.

"What makes you think you're off the hook?" he snapped.

"Oh, come now. We both know most of what happened out there was a show, a nice little show, but still just that. You're only annoyed that we got caught, and I can't blame you for that. You just want your students to think you're a hardass and that you took my bag as punishment. If you'd like I can tell them how lucky I was that you didn't have me sent away for being so blatantly offensive to your leadership," she feigned guilt, "But we both know that I'm not leaving without it because you want to show Gaara that you're not picking on me," she told him.

Baki frowned. "Don't do that!" he growled and when Satu barked at him for suddenly raising his voice, he turned to the little white dog, "Shut up!" he yelled at it, annoyed that it was far enough away that he couldn't kick it.

"I didn't use my abilities to figure that out. I'm just observant that way," she admitted.

His frown deepened as he watched her finish. "And what do you intend to do with that?" he motioned to the finished product.

"It's yours," she tossed it over to him, watching him fumble only a little to catch the thing without crushing it. "Do what you want," she told him, stuffing the rest back into her blouse and standing to leave. "If that's all, I'm gunna head back."

"There is one more thing. Let me ask you, for what purpose do you pursue Gaara?" He hoped that asking her while she was under the influence of drugs might earn him a little more honesty than he might get otherwise.

She was about to answer when her breath caught in her throat. "He wants me to return," she almost whispered as another little ripple of pleasure passed through her. He was doing it again and it seemed he was getting quite good at it, whatever it might be. This time, he even seemed to affect Satu, having her pull at Calixta's sandals in an effort to get her moving again. When she realized what was happening, she took a deep breath and steadied herself to answer. "I will only tell you this because you are his sensei, which probably makes you the most responsible adult in his life. Our purpose is love."

He laughed at her, receiving a little growl from her dog.. "Fine, if you say so…and here I thought you were going to be all serious. You really had me goin'," he teased.

"Why do you mock me?" she shot an almost dangerous look over her shoulder at the man still seated at his desk.

"Your little friend told me about you. Told me how you insisted that you couldn't love, at least not in the way the rest of the world sees it," he informed.

"You've been talking to Ebisu?" she almost gasped. She knew he was still bitter with her but she didn't think he would resort to talking behind her back. "It's true…or at least I thought it was. It probably still is but can you blame me for pursuing the only person who's ever made me feel close to love?"

Her candor caught him off guard, even if it was what he'd been hoping for and she left before he could speak, barely snatching up the borrowed umbrella as she walked out.

When she got close enough for Gaara to tell exactly where she was, he provided for her a path of raised sand so that she wouldn't have to worry about sinking into any puddles. She thought it was a sweet gesture until she saw that Kankuro and Temari were still on the porch.

"Is everything okay?" Temari asked almost fearfully.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. We worked it out. You two might be in a smidge of trouble for having gotten caught but I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Gaara inside?" she asked knowingly.

"Yeah, he wouldn't let us come in after we told him what happened," Kankuro informed.

Calixta just gave a casual nod. "Here's your umbrella back," she tossed it to Temari and went inside to find her lover impatiently waiting for her. "I'm sorry that took so long," she affectionately apologized.

Gaara glared at her. "What the hell?"

She blinked curiously and then frowned. "It wasn't my intention to upset you," she carefully drew closer.

He rolled his eyes. "I realize that. I'm still trying to decide if that makes me more or less annoyed with what happened," he grumbled.

With a little smirk of amusement she closed the distance between them and sat directly across from him at his little kitchen table. "You want some help?" she almost giggle.

Her boldness and confidence made him curious. "You think you could tell me what annoys me more?" he darkly surmised, leveling an even, speculative gaze on her.

"If you like…or I can let you figure it out by yourself," she teased invitingly as she reached a hand across the table toward him.

He snatched up her hand and laced their fingers together, giving her an expecting look. He was willing to let her try to figure him out but only because he could do the same thing to her at the same time. He was surprised to find, that in spite of her appearance, she was actually quite focused.

"You're not helping," she chided teasingly when she felt the warmth of his chakra ripple through her.

He chuckled but didn't relent until she frowned. "What is it?"

"You're not annoyed. You're disappointed," she answered regretfully.

His frown quickly joined hers.

"You really thought you were annoyed…" she nearly awed.

Gaara tried to jerk away but she wouldn't let him.

She smirked when she felt the flash of surprise at her sudden show of physical strength but quickly pushed that aside. "You feel like you missed out," she added suddenly.

He looked away, feeling foolish, but she used her other hand to raise his chin again.

"It's okay," she assured him once she could see his eyes again. Then, she reached into her blouse to reveal her prize. "See?" she held it out in front of him, practically forgetting about Baki's plaguing worry.

"They said he took it away from you," he informed.

"He did, but he never intended to keep it. He just wanted to scare your brother and sister," she dismissed.

"He kept you long enough," Gaara grumbled.

"He wanted to talk," she replied. "but he was being a jerk so I didn't really tell him anything," she impishly admitted before growing serious again, "He's really nervous about letting you have any of this…not that he can stop you."

"Why are you undermining him?" Gaara asked accusingly.

"I'm not undermining him as much as I am giving you to the option to do it yourself. But keep in mind, he's just worried that something…unpredictable might happen," she tried.

"What do you think I should do?" he looked up at her hopefully.

"You're not going to like my answer," she sighed. "But, here goes: I can't say what you should do."

He grumbled. "You're right. I don't like that." But he knew she wasn't just doing it to cover her ass in case something bad did happen. She actually wanted him to make his own decision.

Seeing that he wanted some time to consider his options and that he hadn't put away his groceries, she stood, letting go of his hand, and started putting things away.

He watched as she pulled an umbrella from one of the bags, "That's for you."

"It's very nice," she awed, setting it with her purse so she could use it when they went out. "From the looks of things I'll need it. How long does the rain last anyway?"

"Off and on for a few months," he distractedly replied. "What do you think would happen?" he held the bag up in front of his face to scrutinize the contents.

She shrugged. "We don't know. I mean, it's impossible to say, really." She watched him narrow his eyes and purse his lips as he studied the object in question. "You want to. What's holding you back?" she asked as she came back over to the table, this time sitting on the same side as him. "Are you worried about what others will think? It can be our little secret," she winked.

"It's not that," he sighed. "Did Kankuro and Temari know what they were doing?"

"They both told me how very much against the rules it was," she pointed out petulantly.

"That's not what I mean," he muttered

"Oh, I see. They seemed to have a fair handle on it but there really wasn't much for them to do. I already had things going before either of them arrived," she admitted.

He nodded. "Show me how," he pushed it over to her.

With a knowing smile, she obliged. "You really know how to turn my screws, ya know that?" she playfully nudged him. "But you know, we could both get in a great deal of trouble for this."

Gaara laughed. "Maybe you will."

His fearlessness made her giddy and she finished rolling their joint. He watched her very intently, especially when she licked the side to seal the paper. A slight twist later and she was lighting it.

"It's gunna make you cough," she warned after her first real drag.

"If that's all it does, I'm gunna be disappointed," he informed curtly.

She agreed but didn't feel the need to verbalize it. Instead, she took another deep drag before using her off hand to pull his face closer to hers. "Deep, even breath in, okay?" she barely said as she sealed their lips together, exhaling the smoke into Gaara's lungs.

Gaara exhaled a moment after their lips parted. He was coughing but because of her approach, it wasn't as harsh as it could have been. "Please tell me that's not what you did with Kankuro and Temari," he sputtered.

She giggled, "No, of course not. I just thought it might be a sweet way to start you off. Here," she handed it over to him.

He took it and tried it for himself, this time really coughing as his body rejected the smoke. She wanted to soothe him but he wouldn't have any of that, so she just took it back.

Three nearly silent passes later, she broke the silence, "What'd'ya think?"

He shrugged, still trying to make sure his bearings were where he thought they should be.

"You look kinda dazed," she pointed out, poking the end of his nose with her finger.

With that, he decided to simply accept that he was off kilter and that seemed to help steady him. However, he didn't verbally reply. He opted instead to continue exchanging smoky kisses with her until the joint was gone. Without thinking, they were stumbling to the bedroom.

"This doesn't seem to effect you the way other drugs do," he commented.

"That was one of the first things that was tried to help get me under control. I was still fairly young so they figured it would damage my psyche less to dope me up with whatever they could find to see what happened," she replied. "Just between you and me, this one was always my favorite."

"What else did you try?" he asked with morbid curiosity as he tossed her down onto her makeshift bed, which at this point resembled something more akin to a nest.

"Oh, I don't even remember anymore…sometimes they didn't even tell me," she dismissed listlessly.

"And nothing helped?" he assumed.

"I had some pretty ridiculous trips," she giggled, "but no, it never helped more than any other distraction could."

"Then why do it at all?"

"Because altered states are…occasionally amusing," she mused. "Can we talk about something else?" she asked hopefully.

Gaara sensed her disappointment and decided to let it go this time, at least for the time being.

After that they were naked together, no more words were necessary. They made love for almost two hours before they were both too spent to continue. As she dozed with him in her arms, fingers affectionately toying with his hair, she lightly hummed a tune whose words she couldn't remember.

He felt so peaceful that he fell asleep like that a few minutes later. Though, her rest didn't last long. She awoke, heart racing, when she heard a maniacal giggle coming from the one in her arms. Normally, his laugher never disturbed her but this time there was an unearthly edge to it that made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

The demon's name was on her lips but she didn't manage to speak it until he looked up at her, revealing his gold on ink eyes. "Shukaku…"she whispered.

"Smart girl," he cooed dangerously.

She barely suppressed the tremor his voice sent through her body. "How did you-?" she tried to ask but the feeling of sand gathering around her limbs, quickly immobilizing her, stole her words.

"What did you expect?" he taunted dangerously. "You went and got a fourteen-year-old insomniac higher than a kite and fucked his brains out. He passed the fuck out, genius."

She gave a grave nod and closed her eyes, praying that the demon wouldn't just suffocate her right then and there.

"Look at me," he demanded, slapping her hard on the cheek.

Even if he hadn't ordered her to, Calixta would have opened her eyes anyway, especially with a slap like that. The shock of the sudden attack forced her eyes open and the ripple of pain kept them locked on him to see if he gave any sort of reaction to it. He watched her wince outright while only the corner of his eye twitched empathetically.

Satu, who had been sleeping in the corning of the room, was roused by the sudden attack on her master and growled, hair standing on end as she lunged toward the attacker. She bit him on the forearm, much to his displeasure, and didn't seem inclined to let go. "Stupid mutt!" he took her by the scruff of the neck and yanked her away forcefully, receiving a wounded whine in response.

"Sato! No! Stay back!" Calixta tried but it was already too late.

"You really like this stupid little runt, don't you?" he scoffed.

"Please, let her go. She's not part of this!" she pleaded, this time actually fighting against his bindings, though it still did no good.

He sneered and threw Sato away, not caring that she hit the wall with a hard thump and landed with another series of wounded whines combined with her defensive, if fruitless, growling.

"Sato, run. Hide until I call for you," she ordered and the dog reluctantly left. She breathed a sigh of relief even though he was laughing at her.

To his surprise, she started laughing with him a moment later. "Why are _you_ laughing?" he asked in a cruel little voice, as though she had nothing to laugh about.

"Because you are," she giggled, "Your laughter is quite contagious."

"You know what's also contagious?" he nearly purred as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Your pain…" He reached up with his other hand and roughly grabbed her breast, squeezing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. He laughed again at the squeal she gave when he harshly twisted her swollen nipple. "Scream as loud as you like," he coaxed as he repeated the action, this time with even greater force. He still wasn't rewarded with the desired vocalization but the sound she did make was pleasing to his ears so he started tearing apart her clothes.

At the first sound of the tearing, she broke eye contact with him to see what he had done, rolling her eyes when she saw the nearly four inch rip in the blanket barely covering her chest. Apparently he intended to terrorize her bed sheet as well as her person. "Does Gaara know what's happening?" she managed to ask without stuttering.

"It's just you and me. The boy is sound asleep," he assured in a dark voice.

She nodded again and he continued tearing her sheets until it looked like she was wearing rags. Once her swollen breasts were revealed, they were swollen because Gaara didn't want any of her milk while they were smoking because he knew it would dampen his intoxication, he reeled back to slap them but the way she shifted made the little charm around her neck catch the light, first silver, then red, then silver again.

Distracted, he took the trinket between his fingers and used it to pull the chain taut.

"Please don't break it," she blurted out.

He dropped it to deliver a harsh slap across her chest, hissing with displeasure. "Don't tell me what to do!"

The force of the blow was enough to cause a brief spurt of milk and she finally screamed.

"That's right," he coaxed, continuing to slap her until his hand was almost dripping wet. About that time, he saw that tears were freely flowing down her cheeks as she shrieked and squealed. He traced the little trails with his tongue, savoring the way the salty fluid mixed with the sweetness of her skin. "Now, tell me more about the drugs they had you on…"

She took a moment to feel him out before answering. At first, she thought he was asking out of personal interest, perhaps something he could get Gaara addicted to that would allow him greater freedom. This was not the case; he wanted to drudge up bad memories. That level of psychological torment, she could handle. So, just as he was starting to grow impatient with her silence, she started to rattle off everything she could think of.

Shukaku blinked with surprise, her list included the legal as well as the illegal, everything from mild herbal therapy to hard drugs, and things he had never heard of.

"Please don't ask me to describe them…three years of my life I hardly remember," she mused sadly.

"What else did you try?" he pressed, provoked by the small pang of sadness he felt from her.

"After…after all the drug and electro-therapy and whatever else tests didn't work, the researchers who found me started to fight over me. When they realized what was happening, they sold me."

"Sold you?" he giggled with delight, "How much did you fetch?" he asked hopefully.

"I asked but they never told me," she bitterly answered. She wanted to change the subject but even this conversation was less painful than his physical wrath.

"Who bought you?" he eagerly pressed.

"Some rich noble family. They had an old master who wanted to see if I was curable and, more importantly, useful. In the meantime, as he was a very inconsistent man, the rest of the family was inclined to take advantage of…well, me." Her breathing was ragged by the end but she managed not to stutter. "Why are you doing this? You don't give a good god damn about my past!"

"Of course I don't," he laughed but then something suddenly occurred to him. "Actually, there is one thing I've been wondering. You probably get it all the time so it shouldn't be that difficult to answer," he taunted. "Were you ever a whore?"

She scoffed. "That's one of the many things I've been called," she tried to misdirect but it didn't work.

"No," he slapped her again before taking a harsh hold on the nipple he had been teasing earlier, "I mean like bought and paid for, money for sex, fucking someone because they will pay you to do it kind of whore."

She sighed and looked away without thinking. "What difference does it make?"

"If you can't do the one thing I've asked, keeping your fucking eyes on me, then you don't get to look at me at all," he announced, using the sand that was keeping her stationary to turn her over until she was on her hands and knees facing away from him. "You give head like a whore," he commented casually just before he started spanking her ass, which was now positioned high in the air. He felt her stomach sink at his words and it encouraged him to hit her even harder.

"After that noble family…realized how distracted and…and unproductive…many of their members were becoming…and tracked down the source, they made me leave…not that I wanted to stay," she panted between spanks. "The next person to take pity on me was a Madam at a big city brothel…I had my sixteenth birthday there…after that, I wasn't allowed to just simply cook and clean…had to contribute like the others…it didn't have to be sex, even if that was the fastest way to get cash…but I had to have something to give back…"

"Why'd you quit? I bet you were very good at it," he taunted when he stopped to admire the red and white welts that were starting to rise on her skin. Just then, he experienced the most curious sensation and it took him a moment to realize that it was even coming from her because it wasn't overwhelming or pressing as the other impressions he got from her had been. But it was so subtly curious that he couldn't ignore it. "Answer the question!" he ordered, raking his fingernails across her lower back.

She made a variety of different sounds as he did so, the foremost of which was a groan of frustration. "I made enough money to strike out on my own…and things there were starting to get a little too complicated."

"You were _too_ good at your job," he accused and felt the curious sensation again. "Tell me, did you just happen to give a little extra bang for their buck or did they have to pay extra for their time with you?"

Her mind clouded for a second and she felt as though she might black out. "What the hell do you care?" she slurred as she felt his chakra pressing in on her even harder, even further constricting her sand bindings and making it more difficult to breathe. "Damn it…Once the Madam realized what was going on, I had a special rate…the first time was practically free, but the price went up almost exponentially from there…"

He laughed cruelly, "She sold you like a drug."

She whimpered and nodded.

"What? Can't you even speak now? Do you realize now how out of your league you are?" he hissed dangerously, once again taking the charm dangling from her neck between his fingers.

"Is that what you want?...To overwhelm me? …To make me give up?" she snapped as harshly as she could manage.

"What if it is?" he pulled the chain tight.

"You could overwhelm me…we both know that…but if you want me to give up, you're going to have to kill me," she weakly managed as she felt the sand started to creep up her arms and around her throat.

"Ya know, Gaara believes you're insane, certifiably committable," he mused.

"I know that!" she snapped.

"But I had my doubts. Though, I am beginning to think he's right," he continued.

"Does it really matter either way?" she panted.

He shrugged, dropping the necklace. "Well, if you're just nuts then that in itself gives you motivation to do what you're trying to do. If you're not, then I want to know what your angle is," he explained bitterly.

She could feel him scowling at her when she didn't answer but it quickly turned into a smile because he realized that it wasn't out of impudence. So that he could get a better look at her face, he rolled her over onto her back. Her eyes were still open and her breathing was ragged but still fairly even. Her gaze was vacant and she offered no resistance to his motions.

"Hey!" he slapped her.

Calixta blinked a few times as she tried to focus but found herself incapable. She parted her lips to speak but all that came out was the sound of her breath, coming in short pants because she still felt constricted by his presence. When she did manage to speak, it was only three words, "I love Gaara."

He gave a low chuckle of delight and stood, letting the sand fall away around her. To her surprise, as he started for the door, she slowly rolled up onto her side. Pleased that she wasn't entirely checked out, he said to her as his hand turned the knob ,"You need a little time to think. I won't be gone long and if you try anything, I can promise you will be very, very sorry," he warned.

With a sigh, Calixta let herself fall onto her back once again with a sigh of resignation and then he was gone.

She felt a great relief once he was gone and she could breathe easily. Once her head cleared, she didn't feel like she was going to pass out but dared not move until she heard him exit the front door. She knew the ordeal wasn't over but she was glad for the break. He was testing her convictions, wanted to see if she would panic or if she would try to play it cool. He wanted to see if she would freak out and how.

First, she felt regretful that she had let it happen in the first place, thinking that she should have heeded Baki's warning about not letting the young demon host get too intoxicated. With this feeling came a guilty joy. She wanted to feel bad for letting him out but at the same time she felt even closer to Gaara than ever for having encountered the demon. She knew Gaara would be upset about it when he awoke and regained control but she worried about what sort of reaction he would give. He wouldn't want her to submit to the beast, that much she was sure of, but she knew certain sacrifices would have to be made.

Regardless of the demon, she still felt that warmth inside when she thought of Gaara. The idea that they could love one another was too much for her not to pursue so she decided to go for it, having decided that 'to go for it' meant commitment. He was the only person she'd ever felt compelled to make important sacrifices for, not that she hadn't made sacrifices for others but those had always been out of some sort of force or coercion.

This revelation helped to solidify her conviction before he returned. He hadn't actually gone anywhere. He pretended to leave so he could continue to observe her. To his surprise, she seemed to recover fairly quickly so he didn't have to wait too long before returning, though he wouldn't have waited for a full recovery anyway.

He parted his lips to speak a chiding prompt but she spoke before him, much to his annoyance.

"I love Gaara," she stated evenly.

He scoffed. "Stubborn."

"_And_ I love you too," she added.

"_And_ stupid."

"I don't expect you to understand. I'm not sure if you even can, demonic emotions are somewhat foreign to me. Even so, I know it's only a waste of time to lie to you," she added while he was still willing to let her speak.

His brow furrowed. "Why are you so insistent?" he asked with morbid curiosity.

She could feel the sands around and beneath her shifting but it seemed more like an idle habit than a reminder of what he could do to her. "Because I don't want you to hate me," she confessed.

"Well I certainly can't love a ridiculous weakling like you," he jabbed.

"I didn't know if demons could love at all," she muttered.

"They why try to win my affection?" he drew closer, noticing that she was almost the exact same position as when he left.

"I'm not out for your affection either, though if you offered it, I wouldn't refuse," she half-joked.

"Then what is it?" he pressed as he sat down on top of her, straddling her hips.

She tried to keep the hopefulness from her voice but largely failed. "I want you to accept me as a part of Gaara's and your life. I don't expect you to like me , even tolerating me would be fantastic," she half-joked.

He gave her a critical look. "And what makes you think you even deserve such kindness from me?"

"Name it," she offered challengingly.

His eyes lit up and he chuckled, amused by her audacity. "Dismember that weak nothing of a man that came here with you," he answered.

Calixta frowned. "I couldn't do that."

"I could help you, make sure he doesn't get away," he offered, eyes twinkling with homicidal mischief.

"Thank you," she politely declined, "but I couldn't let someone else suffer that much for what I want."

"That takes away all the fun," he complained.

"No matter what I want, I couldn't drag someone else into this," she reasoned halfheartedly.

"So you don't plan to tell anybody that I slapped the shit out of you and raped you into unconsciousness?" he cruelly proposed.

She grimaced at his diction. "I'd really rather you didn't finish what you started…" she grumbled. "But if taking advantage of me like that means you won't interfere otherwise, I'm yours," she replied resolutely.

He leaned forward until their noses were only centimeters apart, his body hovering over hers. "Is it because you think you love him? Do you think he will be pleased that we even met like this? Once he finds out what happened, he's not gunna wanna come within a thousand kilometers of you at the very least!"

"You don't think you could keep it from him," she accused and it earned her a slap on the cheek.

"By the time I'm done with you, there won't be any doubt," he vowed seriously.

She appeared pensive for a moment. "What do you want more than anything?"

"To cause as much suffering and destruction as possible," he giddily replied.

"Wrong," she countered and received another slap. "You want _the freedom_ to cause as much suffering and destruction as possible."

He reeled back and eyed her dangerously through half-lidded eyes. "Something you cannot provide."

"You said yourself that I was primarily responsible for you getting out this time," she pointed out.

"You think you could do it again?" he accused. "After he wakes up, he'll never touch that stuff again. It doesn't matter what I do in the meantime so I might as well enjoy it."

"He might if you don't totally maim me this first time," she sarcastically proposed. "And I think that, over time, he might realize that it is for the best and you and I are at least on speaking terms."

He laughed at her. First it was a low chuckle but it soon bubbled up into a deep belly laugh. "You might not be crazy," he mused, mostly to himself. "But alas, you cannot guarantee such a repetition and so I am left with my original choice. Nice try though."

She felt the sand starting to wrap around her limbs and torso again, holding her tight. "I don't know if I can really love Gaara if you don't accept me. Please, you have to let me try. I can't stand to have such a huge part of him reject me so fully," she pleaded but then stopped herself when she felt her restraints tighten. "Oh, never mind…he probably won't even want to look at me after this no matter what you do," she sighed. "No matter what happens…he's gunna hate me," she finally admitted to herself. "I could be a bloody, mangled mess or have barely a scratch, it doesn't matter…" She squeezed her eyes shut to fight back the tears. She had been trying to hold out hope that somehow she and Gaara could hash things out and she reasoned that if she proved she could reason with the demon, he might be more easily persuaded.

He reveled in her anguish, feeling victorious because he had finally broken her spirit. But, when she actually started to cry, he could tell she wasn't completely broken. He could still feel a disgustingly warm throbbing beneath it all. He couldn't quell her love for his medium or, more disturbingly, how that seemed to also transfer to him. "He won't be able to stand to look at you," he affirmed and she actually started to sob.

"Just do what you want…I don't care anymore…" she muttered softly.

"Yes you do. You still care a great deal," he argued.

"All is lost, of course I care! …but I can't change what's going to happen so I'd rather just get it over with," she replied bitterly.

"I think I liked you better when I thought you were crazy," he mused, using his sand to force her to sit up with her arms crossed behind her back. He didn't like the glaze that was starting to form over her eyes due to her resignation.

She watched him stand and start to undo his fly. There were three words on her lips but when she opened her mouth to speak, he grabbed her tongue.

"Be a good whore and suck my cock while I consider what you've said," he ordered, holding his erection in front of her face.

At that, she forgot her words and tried to do as he asked. More than likely, he was just toying with her, seeing if he could get her hopes up only to dash them again, but she couldn't control the flash of hope that made her heart skip a beat. This renewed eagerness sparked the remainder of her stamina but it didn't help her dexterity, not that he seemed to mind weaving his fingers through her hair to forcefully guide her.

When he was on the verge of orgasm, she had no intention of pulling away but at the very last second, he did just that, giving a roar of sexual frustration from the self-induced denial. She whimpered and tensed at the sound. Had she and the demon been just a little closer spiritually, he might have been able to make her cum for him.

"Not so fast. There's more I want to do to you first," he smirked down at her.

"It's not fair," she barely said as he knelt down in front of her.

"What are you babbling about?" he demanded, spreading her legs using the sand before actually reaching between with his hand.

"I suppose I deserve this for tempting fate, for not being happy with what we had…" she mumbled. "I was so stupid…to think that something like this would bring us closer."

When his fingers found her wet slit, he gave a crude chuckle. "That's where you're wrong. This is far too close for his comfort. That will be why he will try to banish you from his existence. As soon as he wakes up, he'll know we were together and then he'll cut you off completely," he taunted.

Calixta's head dropped with shame. "I don't deserve either of you…"

When her sorrow suddenly intensified, he lightly slapped her clit. It caused her to gasp but she did lift her head again, if only out of surprise. Amused, he reached up with his other hand to roughly grope her swollen breasts. Even just the initial contact made her wince.

"They're all hard," he complained, childishly poking at her breast.

"They're full," she complained.

He took a moment to actually look at her breasts. They looked heavy and sore, her nipples dark and puffy. As an experiment, he ran one thumb lightly over her right nipple. That small attention brought it immediately to hardness. She whimpered again and felt the affections starting her let down reflex. A couple passes later and he watched as her breasts softened and lowered slightly, allowing her milk to flow freely from her nipples, slightly more freely from the one he was still teasing.

She knew he wouldn't drink more than a taste but even having just that little bit of pressure released was a great relief and she found her body yielding to his touches. The fluid did an excellent job of revitalizing Gaara and his chakra, something Shukaku did not want.

When her breasts started to leak little beads of milk on their own, he stopped playing with them in favor of slapping her between the legs again. She gave a little yelp of surprise and there was a small spurt from her breasts.

He giggled maniacally and kept doing it until his hand was wet and sticky and she too was on the verge of orgasm. Then, he suddenly pulled away to examine the fluid on his hand. She didn't notice. She was too busy wiggling and straining futilely against her firm bindings, her head spinning with near release as she instinctively tried to push her hips toward him.

He ignored her desperate little moans of denial and smelled her cum as it cooled on his fingers. Just the first whiff almost made his eyes roll and without thinking, he tasted it, finding that she was tangy and sweet and left a curious little tingle on his tongue.

"You're pathetic," he informed before leaning forward. He was still careful to make only minimal physical contact right up until he bit down on her shoulder. She almost screamed but it got caught in her throat and just turned into a series of whimpers. When he finally released her, he withdrew, licking little traces of her blood from his lips. "I should just eat you alive," he glowered. "You're practically made for it."

"You couldn't finish me in one sitting and the leftovers would be unsatisfying," she sniped.

The pragmatism of her comment struck him. Even if he could do it, he would only be able to do it once. However, if he kept her around, she could continue to entertain him. He stared down at her, licking his lips with contemplation.

The expression he gave as he sized Calixta up gave her a brief flashback to the time they described each others feelings to one another. One of the first things she said was that he looked hungry. Now she knew where that look came from. The memory made her breathe a shaky little sigh that broke his concentration.

"I'll make you a deal," he informed, reaching up with both hands to harshly pinch and twist her nipples.

She nodded vaguely in recognition as she tried to hold back the great whine of pain that tore through her.

"I'll be nice this time and if you can get me back out again, I'll try not to kill you," he bargained.

"Or?" she managed.

"Or the next time I do get out, I'll hunt you down and turn everything you've ever touched into confetti," he threatened seriously, but still amused by the idea.

"Okay," she hastily nodded. "How long do I have to prove to you that I can do it?"

He was pleased that she already agreed, though he didn't doubt she would. "A month? A week perhaps? Do you think you could do it in a day?" he taunted.

"I-I really don't know how long it'll take," she stammered. Part of her was glad that she couldn't pull away from him because it would only make the abuse to her nipples worse but she couldn't help instinctively trying to reel backward, something he seemed to enjoy. "You know if you don't give me enough time, I'm doomed to fail," she added.

"Yes, but if I give you too much time then it won't be a very suitable test of your loyalty to me," he teased as he used the sand to lay her back, arms still crossed behind her.

She swallowed hard but otherwise didn't respond.

"A year," he finally decided.

"A whole year?" she almost awed.

"Do you think I'm being too generous?" he taunted.

"Do I get some sort of recognition if I see you sooner than that?" she countered.

"We'll see," he shrugged. He knew it was a lot of time but he really thought she had a chance of convincing his young medium to let him out occasionally for some fun. Even if it was just to torment her, at least he wouldn't be concerned with mass destruction.

"Y-You're actually giving me a chance?" she stammered as he slowly pushed her legs, folded at the knees, up to her sides, completely exposing her to his prying eyes. "Oh, but it'll never work. He'll never want to see me again let alone let me see you again," she fretted.

"You already agreed," he pointed out. "It'd be a pity to make a deal only to give up on it before you even started. Besides, you have that kid wrapped around your little finger. He thinks about you all the fuckin' time," he griped as he ran his fingertips up and down her slit, smearing her cum around.

She could tell he had no intention of sticking his fingers in her and tried not to whimper too much at the slight touches. "No, I wouldn't do it that way!" she argued. "I couldn't!"

"You couldn't or you wouldn't?" he interjected, flicking her clit for emphasis.

Calixta yelped again and her body jerked. "I don't know if I could if I wanted to. I can't do it because I don't want to and Gaara won't want it either. We're connected. He'll know. He always knows when I'm using my chakra and when I'm not," she argued. "I would feel as though I was deceiving him and he would feel it too. You know that," she almost spat. She would have spit at him but his face was nowhere near hers anymore.

He leaned down so that his lips were centimeters from her wet heat. "So you have to do it the hard way then…" he whispered, letting his breath tease her instead of his hands. For it he earned a heated gasp and another, almost as violent, jerk.

"It doesn't matter which way is hard or easy, ya know," she insisted. "If it's gunna happen, that's how it'll be. I can't do it any other way."

He shrugged. More than anything now, he was interested to watch the events of the next few days to a year unfolded. Without another word, he leaned down even further and started to nibble the thick muscle of her inner thigh. Knowing that tasting her blood again would send him over the edge, he opted to leave countless bruises, of varying sizes, up and down the inside of her legs instead. He could almost feel her scent as it filled his nostrils, and moved his hand back to continue rubbing her, this time with purpose.

Calixta's stomach sank hard when she realized what he was after. He was trying to wet her back entrance with the lubrication from the front. It was a start, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to keep her from experiencing the stinging friction in addition to the pain of being so suddenly stretched. She shuddered the first time he actually ran his fingers around the tight ring of muscle. Had she seen the way his eyes lit up at the way it twitched for him, she might have moaned. Then, when he started to apply a steady even pressure with two fingers, she whimpered.

"If you don't relax a little I'm going to hurt you even more than I intend to," he pointed out almost hopefully.

She bit her lip and nodded. It was something she already knew but couldn't manage. "Eeegh…" she winced when he forced his fingers inside as far as they would go, knowing that he wasn't doing it to prepare her as much as it was to watch her squirm.

He reveled in the way her body tried to thrash about in a futile effort to expel the intruder. "Ya know, I kinda expected you to be used to this. Didn't any of your Johns wanna fuck you in the ass?" he taunted as he scissored his fingers as far apart as he could.

"It's been a while…" she grumbled.

He giggled with delight. "Good, 'cause I don't like second-hand merchandise unless it's in really good condition."

She almost laughed with him. "Second, third, fourth, I never bothered counting," she muttered. She had been called damaged goods for as long as she could remember. Apparently, it took a trapped demon to think otherwise.

Instead of replying, he withdrew his fingers and started to position himself at her back entrance.

She gave a little whine as he started to press into her. "Please! Please, let me suck you off some more or something, anything for more lubrication," she pleaded shamelessly.

He smirked and actually considered her words for a moment. He might have let her suck his cock a little more if he wasn't already so close to bursting. "Don't worry, with as hot and tight as you are, this won't take _too long_," he pretended to soothe as he continued to push into her. "But you can struggle all you want. You know I love it."

When the head of his cock first pushed through her tight ring of muscle, she screamed and futilely tried to get away. She howled with every thrust at the searing pain. Luckily, he was right about one thing. After all that, he didn't last more than a few minutes before coming violently inside her with a loud grunt.

She had hoped that his orgasm would signal the release of some of his other kinds of control but she was left wanting as she continued to lay immobilized beneath him while he caught his breath. A few pants later, he leaned up and licked the rest of the tears off her face, making a satisfied sound at the taste.

Then, he moved much lower, finally pulling out of her in the process to notice that he had made her bleed. The scent of her blood mixed with their sex made him growl and he leaned down to clean that area with his tongue as well. She whimpered and weakly bucked at the sensation of his tongue on her abused flesh as he lapped up her blood as it mixed with the cum that leaked out of her.

"You were a very good girl," he noted as he finished cleaning her.

All she could manage at first was a tired little groan. "I'm glad you approve," she sarcastically managed after a few moments.

"Did you cum?" he asked curiously.

She gave a quiet little laugh. "You know the answer to that already."

He frowned slightly and she could feel his disappointment. "Were you trying not to?" he accused.

"I-It just didn't happen…" she tried.

"There was too much pain for you," he scoffed. "But don't worry, if you manage to keep our deal, I will teach you to relish that pain as much as any pleasure you've ever received," he bragged.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation but it was lost due to the fact that her eyes were nearly closed. Then, he did something that truly surprised her. He leaned down between her legs again and started licking her exposed sex. He snickered at the heated moan she gave in response.

He continued to sloppily lick her until she was on the verge of orgasm. Then, just as she was about to cum from that, he harshly nipped at her clitoris, swollen from his previous abuse, pushing her over the edge. It was unbelievably painful but she was already so close that she couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. A loud pleasured squeal later, she was practically unconscious and he was finally letting her go.

"If you're gunna play with me, you gotta work on your endurance," he taunted as he took her in, enjoying how thoroughly used up she looked as she faded in and out of consciousness.

She gave a vague nod. "C-Can I have Gaara back now?" she mumbled, almost unaware of what she was saying.

He laughed at her and started lapping up the stray drops of breast milk that had splattered all over her chest and torso during their encounter. After he was sure he had all that, he started to nurse from her, knowing that would push him back into the young man's mind and allow the sleeping teen's personality to emerge.


	18. Drowned

She was already asleep when Gaara came to. At first, he didn't think about what he was doing. By this point, nursing from her was becoming almost second nature. What brought on his realization that things weren't quite what they should be was her little sighs of contentment sounded a little different than usual. They sounded exhausted and distant.

When he looked up at her face after a moment, he realized she wasn't conscious and immediately stopped what he was doing. When he stopped, her eyes started to flutter open.

"C-Cali?" he barely asked, a sudden rush of guilt and worry overcoming him.

She smiled when he said her name. "Ai-sama," she barely whispered.

"What…What happened?" he asked warily as he pulled back enough to see the welts and bruises on her skin as well as the tear streaks on her face.

"We're closer now…" she dreamily muttered.

His eyes grew wide with horror as the demon inside him started to recall what he considered to be the highlights of the evening. "No…NO!" he backed away from her.

She made a sound of incredible distress at his withdraw and weakly tried to pull him back but he was already out of her reach. "It's okay. I needed to meet that part of you," she tried to insist.

"NO!" he yelled forcefully. "This is bad…" he mumbled to himself, "This is really bad. Really, really bad…"

"Hey, come back and finish what you started," she again tried to get him to return to her side.

"No! What's the matter with you? How can you be so casual? I just raped you!" he panicked.

"Don't say that," she weakly argued. "Please, come back," she reached out to him.

Gaara deeply wanted to do as she asked but he felt like he was going to throw up.

Seeing the sickened look on his face, she summoned all her energy to sit up so she could face him. "_You_ didn't rape me," she insisted. "Besides, I've been raped before so, I know the difference," she grimly informed.

"Semantics! Shukaku did it and he's part of me. How could I let this happen? I never should have listened to you," he told her regretfully as he stood.

She wasn't about to point out that it was his decision to smoke with her because she had encouraged him. "You're not leaving, are you?" she asked carefully when he started toward the door.

"How can you even stand to be near me after what I did to you?" he could feel hot tears stinging his eyes and turned away.

"Because my affection for you hasn't changed and if it has, it's only gotten deeper," she nearly pleaded because she could feel his heart breaking.

"You're insane!" he accused and stormed out.

She tried to follow him but her muscles failed her. "Please, don't leave me!" she called after him but he was already gone, leaving her to sob alone until she once again passed into unconsciousness.

Gaara ran out of his house and out into the pouring rain, not bothering to close the door behind him. He had to get as far from Calixta as he possibly could so that maybe he could clear his head, if that was even possible. He couldn't believe that she could be okay with what had happened. She had to be in shock or something to react that way. It didn't take him long to decide that they should never see one another ever again, no matter how painful that might be for him.

As he ran, he could feel her chakra tugging at him. She was trying to call him back but he wouldn't let her. Just when he was on the edge of the city, he heard an unmistakable barking behind him. He whipped around to see Satu chasing him.

"Damn dog," he grumbled. "Get! Go away!" he yelled but she kept following him. "Damn it! Stupid fuckin' mutt!" he backed away.

Satu was undeterred by his foreboding shouting, driven by her master to pursue the young man.

Gaara was disturbed by the little dog's insistence so much so that he kicked her when she got too close for his comfort.

Satu stumbled to try to maintain her footing and gave a wounded whine at the assault but didn't relent. As soon as she was on her feet again, she continued her pursuit. Gaara stumbled backward in surprise, having expected the animal to retreat after the attack, and when she jumped on him, he fell backward to the ground and into a rather large puddle.

"Damn it! You stupid mutt! Get the hell off me!" he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and threw her away only to have her return like a boomerang a second later, before he could stand. He wrestled with her as she tried to lick his face.

When he finally managed to push her off and stand, she grabbed the bottom of his pant leg between her teeth and tried to tug him back in the direction he came.

"No! Damn it! Leave me alone," he yelled at her. "I'm not going back to her! I can't! She's suffered enough because of me! You go back! She'll need you," he continued, not thinking how crazy it would look to someone who saw him yelling at a puppy as though it was a person. Then, he finally started to run off again. Much to his dismay, Satu continued to follow. She stopped trying to jump on him but she wasn't going to leave him alone.

Once he was out of the city, he didn't feel the need to go very far. He just made an alcove out of sand to keep the rain off him, as he had done when he was a child. He almost felt violated when Satu followed him into his hiding place but figured it was a small sacrifice after how badly he had violated Calixta.

Still, as the little pup snuggled up next to him to get out of the rain, he could feel Calixta's chakra calling him. After a moment to take it in, he realized that, like the first time, it wasn't a conscious effort. However, he could also tell that, unlike the first time, he was the only recipient of the calling.

"She wants you," the demon voice inside Gaara's head crooned.

"She's crazy. She doesn't know what she wants!" he screamed.

"Sanity is not required for desire," it told it's host in a grating sing-song voice.

Gaara's eyes dilated and he started pulling at his hair. "_YOU!_ You ruin everything!"

"Tch, I hardly call one ridiculous woman everything," it scoffed.

Satu gave a sympathetic whine and moved up onto Gaara's lap. Gaara didn't notice. He was too busy screaming out loud at the voice inside his head.

"I had a chance with her!"

"A chance at what?" it incredulously inquired.

"She wasn't scared of me! And I knew that for a fact!" he snapped.

"She's still not scared," it chided.

At that Gaara could swear his heart almost stopped but he was still practically pulling out his hair as Satu stood up in his lap. She placed her paws on his chest and started carefully nuzzling his neck. When Gaara gave a great outcry of grief and frustration, Satu sympathetically howled with him and when his muscles slackened slightly, she pushed her nose into the crook of his arm. Without thinking, he complied with her nonverbal request, opting instead to wrap his arms around her in a protective embrace.

"Why? Why did it have to be like this? I destroy everything that's beautiful! I should have never even tried!" he screamed.

"She's still quite beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful," it haughtily suggested. "And she's not going to leave you alone. She _wants_ to see me again."

"She's insane!" he raved.

"She needs us," it dismissed.

"No one needs what you did to her!"

At that, Satu whimpered and snuggled closer to him. He could feel the little pup's heart racing next to, practically in time with his. Suddenly, there was an intense ringing in his ears and he grasped the dog in his hands. He held it up, level with is face, so he could look in her eyes.

"No…" he muttered with disbelief. "No, that's insane," he almost started giggling maniacally. "Why are you still here?" he shook Sato a little. He might have shook he harder but his muscles didn't seem to have the conviction he was used to.

Sato simply gave a friendly little bark and tried to reach forward to lick his face. He scowled at her but she just barked again and continued her effort.

"That creature is channeling her id," the demon suggested.

Gaara gave her an eerie look and carefully set her down beside him, trying to gently shove her away.

Sato gave him a perplexed look and once again started tugging at his pant leg.

"Stop it!" he pushed her away again.

"It's not going to leave you," the demon chided. "Well, unless you kill it," it added offhandedly as the teen continued trying to push her away.

Gaara flinched at the idea of killing the creature.

The demon laughed at his medium's revulsion at the idea. "She might not want to see you again if you take its corpse to her," he suggested giddily.

Gaara's eyes grew wide with horror. "No! I've hurt her enough! I don't care how annoying that thing is, I won't do it."

Sato leapt into his lap and started licking his face again.

"Uuugh, stop it!" he pushed her off. "Just leave me alone!"

She didn't leave. She just gave a heavy sigh that turned into another whine and sat down.

Gaara gave a sigh of his own. "I have to tell her it's over."

"She won't let you do that," the demonic voice chided.

"I won't give her a choice," he snapped back.

"_She_ won't give _you_ a choice because she knows how you feel about her. You're just not smart enough to understand what she feels and that scares the piss outta you," the demon chided.

Gaara groaned. "I'm not scared _of_ her. I'm scared_ for _her."

Just then, Satu gave a low, short growl of warning before trying to tug on him again, this time his shirt sleeve. When he still wouldn't budge, she lost patience and bit him.

"Ah! What the fuck?" He flailed, trying to dislodge her, which he did but only after nearly a full minute of fighting and flailing.

Sato landed with a graceless thump but quickly made it to her feet and started barking at him again.

"Fine, damn it!" he stood and let the little pup lead him back to Calixta.

Unfortunately, his journey didn't go uninterrupted. Temari happened upon him.

"Hey! Gaara-san!" she called through the rain.

He flinched at the sound of her voice and it took almost all his self control not to simply put a wall of sand between them.

"You puppy sitting?" she teased carefully.

"Whatever," he curtly replied, resuming his determined pace.

"Where's Calixta-san?" she asked with equal carefulness.

"She's…asleep," he managed to reply. Part of him wanted to confide in his sister, knowing she would admonish him.

"Oh…" she cautiously looked around. Seeing no one, she grew slightly bolder, "You wear her out?" she suggestively teased.

His sister's choice of words almost made him throw up but he managed to recover before she noticed. "What's it to you?" he snapped.

"Just kidding. Sorry I bothered you," she sighed regretfully. "You're soaked. Wanna borrow my umbrella?" she offered.

"Don't be stupid. Then you'll get soaked too," he argued.

"I-I don't mind," she managed.

"Then why even use that stupid thing at all?" he demanded, diverting from his path to storm up to her and snatch the protective cover, throwing it as far as he could. This diversion apparently disturbed Sato, who immediately started to bark in complaint.

"Ass," she grumbled. "I was just trying to be nice."

"You're wasting your time. Go bother someone else," he ordered as Sato continued to yap.

Feeling dejected, and already well on her way to being drenched, Temari grumbled as she walked away, allowing Gaara to resume his path. As soon as he turned away from her, Sato stopped barking, something Temari took note of even though she doubted she'd ever say anything about it.

Gaara was home a few minutes later and much to his dismay, Satu only briefly shook herself off on the porch before scampering inside to her master, managing to get a fair portion of her path very wet in the process. When they entered the bedroom, Calixta was almost exactly as she was when he left her, the only difference being that she appeared more comfortable.

Satu immediately started nudging and licking her master's face and neck, making her slowly start to wake.

Gaara stood across the room and waited quietly for the young woman to acknowledge him first.

"Ai…" she mumbled as her eyes fluttered open.

He frowned at the affectionate nickname but she didn't notice.

"Oh, Satu, you're soaked to the bone!" she fretted when she tried to cuddle with her pet. Only when she slowly sat up to look for a towel, did she look up at Gaara. "I was afraid you wouldn't come back," she admitted.

His stomach flip-flopped when he realized that was the first time she had experience fear in their relationship, aside from that induced by his inner demon, but that was an instinctive fear where this was more emotional. He almost shook his head in exasperation. "Of course I'd come back. This is _my_ home," he pointed out.

Then, Calixta experienced something else for the first time. She felt unwelcome. It made her stomach twist a little. Even the first time she came to him, she hadn't felt that way. Sure, he was a bit off putting, and understandably anxious but even when he told her to get out it was more to see if she would stay. She took a deep breath to steady herself but even that came out shaky.

Before she could speak, Gaara took the floor, "We are not going to see each other anymore," he informed flatly.

That really made her sick to her stomach. "Don't toy with me!" she grumbled.

"I don't intend to, which is why I want you out of here before the sun comes up," he continued.

"No!" she slowly started toward him, barely making it to, not to mention staying up on, her feet. "You can't do this to me!" she tried to yell but her screams earlier left her hoarse.

When she finally made a lunge for him, he easily side-stepped her, allowing her to fall gracelessly to the ground. As much as he wanted to catch her, he knew that his stance had to be firm to a fault.

Calixta landed on her hands and knees, keeping her gaze downcast to hide her tears for as long as possible while Satu growled angrily from a few feet away.

"I mean it. It's over. We're done," he asserted, unable to tear his eyes away from her no matter how badly he wanted to. So, to emphasize his conviction, he grabbed her necklace and snapped it, throwing it across the room. "We're lucky it lasted as long as it did."

"No!" she continued to argue, "After what we've been through, you can't just toss me aside!"

Just then, Gaara noticed a strange feeling welling up inside him. At first, it was just a dull ache, but quickly grew in intensity from there until he thought his chest might cave in. It didn't take him long to recognize the feeling but by the time he realized what it was, it was already too late to stop it even if he could. He had broken her heart and now he was going to have to suffer through the pain of it as well.

With a great outburst of grief and frustration, Calixta couldn't contain herself any more and broke down, sobbing as she let herself fall the rest of the way to the ground. She blamed herself for what had happened and mentally berated herself for taking such a huge risk on something so important. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me!" she pleaded.

"Forgive you?" Gaara incredulously gasped. "You were the victim!"

"I caused it," she argued weakly.

"It was _my_ choice and _I_ made the wrong choice," he insisted. "Don't you _ever_ apologize to me!"

She whimpered and tried to crawl toward him. "Please, don't turn me away!"

He tried to jerk away when she grasped his pant leg but his muscles failed him. "It's better this way," he continued to protest.

About a minute later, Kankuro burst into his brother's house. He looked around the front room for a moment and, seeing that there was no one here, rushed into the bedroom. Upon seeing the pair prone on the floor, Gaara soaking wet, while Calixta lie nude less than a foot away, a tangled blanket trailing behind her, his eyes grew wide with horror. In his shock, he barely noticed Satu urgently whimpering and nosing at her face and neck due to the distraction caused by welts and bruises on her body.

Once he could move his feet again, he rushed over to her, rolling her over as he gathered her into his lap. "Calixta!" he gently shook her. He repeated the action several more times before she acknowledged him. She gave a great wail and instinctively clung to him.

"What happened?" he tried even though he wasn't sure she was capable of answering him at the moment, since when he did get a good look at her face, he could see that her eyes were glazed over and wandering in seemingly random directions.

As she cried and sobbed into his chest, Kankuro started nudging his brother with his foot. Since his face was turned away, he still didn't know what state his younger sibling was in.

"Gaara?" he carefully tried and received only a pained groan in response.

"Take me away," she suddenly pleaded.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he hastily nodded. "Where are your clothes?"

"Just take me…" she whined, "He can't stand to be near me anymore," she raved just as she lost any sense of composure she might have regained in his presence.

Because it was handy, Kankuro used the torn sheet to wrap her up before snatching up her umbrella and dashing out. Satu quickly followed.

"Don't worry," he told her, holding her close to his body to protect her from the majority of the rain but found it difficult to do holding her in one arm while the other managed the umbrella. "I'm gunna take you to the hospital," he told her.

"No…please…They can't help me. Just take me somewhere quiet…somewhere safe."

"You looked pretty banged up, they should at least have a look at you," he argued, ducking under a dark awning to talk to her.

She shook her head, "The damage to my body is minor and you know it won't take along before others find out that something's wrong. I need time to rest and think more than I need to be poked and prodded and asked all manor of ridiculous questions!"

Kankuro appeared torn. On the one hand, he sympathized with her desire for privacy but on the other, he knew that if anyone found out he didn't take her to get medical attention immediately, he was likely to be in quite a bit of trouble.

"Please. I called for you with my last bits of chakra because I hoped you would listen to me," she continued to plead. "I wasn't even sure if you'd be able to sense me," she added under her breath.

Suddenly, something occurred to the young man, "Use your chakra," he suggested.

"What?" she blinked with incomprehension.

"Charm me, don't give me the choice because if I get caught making the wrong one, I'm in deep shit," he reasoned.

She felt sympathy for his reason but again shook her head 'no'. "I can't. I'm sorry," she violently burst into tears.

"What? Why not? You did it before. Come on, I wanna do what your asking but I just don't wanna get in any more trouble than I already am," he continued to reason.

"It's all gone. I gave it all to him," she mumbled.

"You gave all of your chakra to Gaara?" Kankuro stammered.

"Who else is there?" she almost laughed. "Please, it's so cold out here," she tried to cling to him a little more securely but largely failed, "Can we keep going?"

"Yes, of course," he nodded. To his surprise, she didn't bother him anymore about where he was going. He wondered if she knew he wasn't heading for the hospital anymore or if she had just given up.

Either way, he quietly snuck into his room and tucked her into his bed. After all that, he knew there was no way he was going to be able to sleep, so he locked the door and pulled a chair up next to the bed.

As Gaara lay prone on his bedroom floor, he felt like he was going to throw up.

"I never made her cry like that," the voice in his head chided, "Perhaps I'm not the real demon here after all."

"You're the reason I had to do it," he barely grumbled. Even though he could still feel every little whim from Calixta, he had rarely felt so alone in his life.

"You're acting like you could have had a long-term relationship with that woman without her ever encountering me. Are you really that naïve?" it scoffed.

Gaara forced himself to roll over onto his back but only managed to do so with great effort.

"Perhaps you're right to make her go. After all, look at how weak and pathetic you are right now. She tried to warn you that if you ever caused her pain, that you would feel it too and what did you do? You broke her fuckin' heart. At least when I hurt her, I make sure she enjoys it a little," he brazenly reasoned. "But look on the bright side, she doesn't blame you for it even a little tiny bit."

Gaara spent the rest of the evening praying that the disorientingly overwhelming pain would subside even just a little so that he might be able to think but his luck had run out.

Calixta slowly awoke early the following morning. She was exhausted enough to sleep longer but the aching in her chest roused her before she was ready.

"Ah, Calixta-san!" Kankuro couldn't help smiling when she regained consciousness.

"Where am I?"

"This is my room. I…didn't know where else to take you," he admitted.

"Thank you," she told him honestly.

"How are you feeling?"

She winced and shook her head 'no'.

"What did Gaara do to you last night?" he tried again.

"I pushed him too hard, too fast…" she muttered, rolling over to look out the window instead of at him and not caring how much of her skin he saw.

Kankuro swallowed hard. "Um, Did he-uh…Those scratches on your back…did he do that?"

She shook her head 'no' again.

"Look, I'm trying to help you here but I won't be able to do that if you don't tell me what's going on," he lightly threatened.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she sighed. "I ruin everything that's beautiful. I've learned that lesson before and I swore never to forget it because I knew the reminder would be harsh." Then she turned back to him. "If you want to help me, go get my things from Ai-er-Gaara's house."

"Do you plan to leave?"

"Not right away," she admitted. She wanted more of her strength to return before she ventured the journey because the last thing she wanted was for Ebisu to have to carry her back.

Hoping that since she wasn't just going to try to run away and that he might earn a little more of her favor if he did as she asked, he complied. To his surprise, Satu eagerly followed him. He was so caught up in wondering about what had happened that he was about half way to his brother's house before he realized that he would probably encounter his unstable younger sibling in the process.

He was right, but it wasn't as bad for him as he thought it would be. The front door was still wide open so he was allowed to once again enter the front room unimpeded. Hearing an occasional thumping accompanied by pained groans, he made quick work of her things that still sat in the front room. Then, he had to move back into the bedroom. Fortunately, Gaara had managed to move from where his brother had left him the night before. He had crawled to the bathroom and was resting his head on the toilet seat, little strings of vomit still dangling from his lips. His eyes, were open, only just barely but it was enough to let him see his brother stop for a moment to gawk at him.

He was about to yell something condescending but found he had no words and even if he did, he doubted he had the conviction to make them sound the way he thought they should. However, that instinctively negative action sent him into another bout of sickness, and he was forced to look away. He couldn't hear it over the sounds he was making and the ringing in his ears, but as his muscles involuntarily spasmed and convulsed, Satu gave sympathetic little whimpers and whines.

Disturbed, Kankuro redoubled his efforts to get her things around, thankful that it was incredibly easy to tell their possessions apart. He had never seen Gaara look so bad and as if worrying about the health and welfare of his younger brother wasn't troublesome enough, he also had to consider how he looked barely conscious. If Gaara nodded off for even a second, he would have even bigger problems to worry about.

Once he had her bags in a pile on the porch, Kankuro went back to where Satu was waiting, watching his brother. "Gaara," he carefully called from a few feet away, barely entering the bathroom doorway. To his surprise, he actually received a groan of acknowledgement. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The younger teen barely nodded once the heaving subsided.

"What is it?" Kankuro asked eagerly. At this point, he was willing to do just about anything if it would make the situation better.

"Get the fuck out," he grumbled.

Kankuro gave a sigh of defeat but complied.

"And take all her shit with you!" he weakly called after his brother before another round of vomiting started.

Since that was the plan anyway, Kankuro left as quickly as possible with Satu close behind. This time, he made sure to close the door behind him. When he returned, he was pleased to see Calixta was awake. She had managed to prop herself up against the wall so that she could sit and stare out the window as the rain continued to fall. She still looked like hell but at least she wasn't unconscious.

She hardly stirred as he entered and placed her bags at the foot of his bed. As he sat back in his chair, he got a good look at her and realized that she reminded him of the little flowers that bloomed during the monsoon. At first, you didn't even know they were there because their seeds lay dormant beneath the surface of the earth but as soon as the rains started, they began to grow. Soon, they would be standing tall with their faces toward the sky, soaking up as much moisture as they could manage but that only lasted so long. Before long, the downpour would become too much for them and the little flowers would be crushed under and swept away by the falling sea.

When Calixta noticed her purse sitting at the foot of the bed, she reached for it, with significant effort, but managed to withdraw her pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Only when she started to light one did Kankuro come out of his own wonderings to say something about it.

"You're not supposed to smoke in here," he commented quietly.

Calixta frowned and let her hands fall lifelessly back to her lap. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking…" she admitted.

Kankuro pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Go 'head and do it anyway," he grumbled.

She gave a half-smile and went back to what she started. He was relieved to see that his sacrifice was rewarded in that after the first couple drags, she appeared a little more relaxed. She didn't need her powers to sense that Kankuro was about to speak and what he was going to be speaking on, so she saved him the trouble.

"It's all my fault, really," she commented, her gaze distant as she turned toward the open window to exhale.

"Please, tell me what happened," he pleaded genuinely. "I'll try to keep it a secret if that's what you want but I have to know. He seemed so different when he was with you, like he wouldn't even harm a sand cricket. Why did he hurt you?"

"We both got hurt because I tried to push our relationship too fast. I mean, it was already too fast to begin with. I should have known better," she scolded herself as she ashed her cigarette out the window.

Kankuro gave an unsatisfied frown. She was talking to him now but he was having a hard time making sense of what she was saying. "You keep saying you pushed him, how did you do that?" he tried.

"He worries all the time…about everything. I just wanted to help him relax. It's so much easier to connect with him when he's relaxed," she babbled. "You know how they say there's a calm before the storm?"

He nodded vaguely to keep her talking.

"His calm was exquisite," she allowed herself to marvel at the memory before reality came crashing back in on her and she had to take another few drags before she could answer without sobbing. "How did it put it?" she muttered to herself but then turned back to her host, "It has quite a way with words you know."

"It?" Kankuro carefully repeated. "What do you mean _it_?"

She wasn't really paying attention. "It said that I got'im higher than a kite and fucked his brains out and that he passed the fuck out. That's about how it went," she mused bitterly.

"Wait, _it_, what is _it_?" he pressed anxiously, praying that she wasn't saying what he thought she was.

"Why, Shukaku of course," she could barely say either of their names without almost completely breaking down.

Kankuro suddenly felt very sick to his stomach. "If you met Shukaku, you should be happy to just be alive," he told her flatly.

"It wouldn't have killed me," she replied as though that made everything all better and she finished her cigarette.

The young man scoffed, "Even you can't know that for sure."

She sighed at his disbelief and reached for another cigarette.

"I never pegged you for a chain smoker," he chided.

She would have sneered at him if she could have. Instead, she scooted a little closer to the window. "I never felt like that about anyone before…" she marveled as her gaze once again drifted outside.

When she didn't say anything for a long minute after that, Kankuro tried to talk to her again. "Calixta-san," he carefully attempted to get her attention but received no response. He tried again but still she didn't acknowledge him. For his third attempt, he stood and walked around the side of the bed, hoping to at least come into her peripheral vision. "Calixta?" he asked one last time before giving up. With heavy sigh, he sat back down in his chair and watched her smoke that cigarette and one more before she nodded off, her head propped up by the windowsill.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep her there like that before someone found out, which left him debating whether to just go and tell Baki himself what he knew so far. When she finally reached for another cigarette about two hours later, he spoke to her. "Calixta-san."

"Hm?" she distractedly prompted.

"Are you hungry or anything?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head 'no' and lit her smoke. "Are you hungry?" she asked coyly.

Just the thought of food made his stomach growl since he hadn't eaten since the night before.

She gave a weak little smirk. "My tits ache so bad…why don't we help each other out?" she gave small gesture of welcome.

"You've got to be kidding," he grumbled and forced himself to turn away when she let the sheet loosely wrapped around her fall away from her chest.

"I don't kid about such things. Don't look away!" she snapped.

With a reluctant sigh, he turned his gaze partially back to her. He hoped to keep his eyes locked on hers but he couldn't help noticing her breasts. They were red and swollen and hardly moved when she would shift her weight.

"It's the one thing you can do for me that will actually ease my pain," she scoffed.

That reasoning made Kankuro comply. He was unsure of himself at first but she didn't seem to care what he did so he slid her over to the edge of the bed, letting her legs dangle off the side as he knelt on the floor before her. However, when he first put his lips to her breast and tried to gently draw the fluid out, she gave a little yelp of pain.

"What's wrong?" he carefully backed off.

"Oh, they're just so tender," she whined. "I don't think they've ever been this full before." It took much of her remaining strength, but she managed to find one of his hands with her own and bring it up to her breast, where she tried to coax him into gently massaging circles. "It will make things easier," she managed and he finally complied.

"How long do I have to…?" he trailed off. He had wanted to grope her from the first time he saw her but this was not exactly what he had in mind.

"You'll know…" she sighed.

He didn't really believe her but figured that if he missed his cue, she would go back to coaching him. Fortunately, she was right and he could tell when she was ready for him to try again. The breast in his hand grew soft and squishy, much to his delight, and he could feel her nipple getting hard under his palm. Once he felt his hand start to get wet, he knew it was time.

She gave a soft sigh of relief when he started to nurse from her breast. "S-Start the other one," she urged quietly but he hesitated. "Usually, I don't prefer that but the pressure's so great…please…"

Even though her voice was almost painfully small, to Kankuro's paranoid ears, it was almost as though she was shouting. So, to keep her quiet, he complied with her request. After he was about half way finished with her right breast, he pulled back to decide if he wanted to switch or just finish what he started.

She watched him lick his lips as he withdrew. Even without her chakra, she could tell there was something on his mind. "What is it? What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know if Gaara told you this but he sorta…shared some of one of your care packages with me…" he managed.

"He never mentioned it," she shrugged. "And I don't really care either way," she added, hoping he would go back to what he was doing.

"I didn't think you would. It's just that…it's different now," he tried.

"Drinking from a spring is different from drinking from a bottle," she pointed out.

"I know but I don't think it's that," he distractedly replied and then, knowing what her next question would inevitably be, he moved to her left breast and started to work on that one.

She understood that he wanted more time to think about what he meant and simply nodded because his purposeful distraction was enough for her.

He pulled back again a few minutes later with his answer. "I know what it is. I know what's different," he told her seriously.

"Well?" she prompted impatiently.

"I don't think you're gunna like it…" he mumbled.

"Does that really matter at this point?" she snapped.

Kankuro sighed and sat back on his heals to he could more easily look up at her face. "You're not a healer anymore," he informed as evenly as he could.

"What?" she snapped incredulously. "You don't know what you're talking about!" she backed away from him but it was a slow, labored effort at best.

"I'm sorry…" was all he could manage.

"No! Liar!" she accused.

"It makes sense if what you said was true, that you gave all your chakra to Gaara."

Her panic continued for another few seconds until what he said sank in. It made an almost unfortunate amount of sense. "I gave that to him too?" she barely asked herself. "I gave him everything…" she trailed off.

Afraid of losing her again, Kankuro placed a careful hand on her knee. "Hey, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll work out," he coaxed.

If she had been able to sense what he was feeling, she would have been angry that he was placating her. As it was, she took his words at face value and tried to calm down. "Just…finish what you started…please," she leaned toward him again.

He nodded and complied. Unfortunately, they were interrupted a few minutes later when Satu hopped off the bed, where she had been snuggled since their return, and gave a protective growl at the door. With a sigh of regret Calixta pulled Kankuro away. "Your brother's coming."

The young man nodded and sat back in his chair. He was about to ask if she wanted him to leave or maybe put some clothes on but Gaara was closer than he expected. He didn't knock before stumbling into the room.

She shrunk in his presence. Gaara's natural chakra by itself was at the very least obvious and inherently aggressive. Having that compounded by the demon trapped inside him made him formidable, possibly fearsome. Now, on top of that, he was also the vessel for the vast majority Calixta's energy. It was no wonder he could hardly walk and she could barely breathe.

Calixta bit her lip as Satu hopped back up into her lap.

As he shuffled forward, he threw something at her. "You forgot something."

She picked it up and looked at it for a moment even though as soon as it left his hand, she knew what it was. She frowned down at the necklace in her hand when she noticed that there was a crack in the little red gem at the center. Feeling utterly disillusioned, she tossed it back, but she was still weak and it landed on the floor about half way between them. Then, she looked away, reaching for another cigarette.

"Stop it…" Gaara grumbled, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I can't…" she muttered.

Her resignation made him even more angry but the way her chakra fought that feeling made him light headed. "Liar!" he spat as he fell to his knees.

"You will survive," she assured him. "Above all else you are a survivor."

Kankuro's eyes grew wide as he silently observed their exchange.

"You want me to suffer!" he accused. "If you really cared about me, you would end this now."

She shook her head. "It's because I care so much about you that you are suffering."

"Why can't I cut you off like I have before?" That had been one of the main reasons he didn't care much if she used her chakra when they were together. Most of the time, he could shut most of it out.

"Because that would be like eating your dinner and expecting not to be nourished. It's all inside you," she pointed out.

"Take it back!" he ordered drawing a little closer to her.

She surveyed him for a moment. "Even if I could, I wouldn't."

"You bitch!" he lunged forward but was easily stopped by his brother. "You stay out of this!"

"Don't talk that way to him!" she snapped.

"If you lay so much as a finger on her, I'll drag you out of here and straight to Baki myself," Kankuro threatened.

Gaara growled, "How dare you!" His brother never had the guts to speak to him that way but they both knew he was in a highly weakened state.

"You should just go," she sighed.

"I'm not leaving until you fix this!" Gaara insisted, banging his fist on the ground in frustration.

"No! Don't you realize what's happened?" she almost smiled, her eyes brimming with tears again.

"Don't you? After what happened last night, you should realize how dangerous it is for us to be together! Why can't you understand that I'm not doing this because I want to? I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you," he raved.

"But something has happened," she insisted.

"And we're lucky it wasn't any worse than that!" he countered.

"I'm not talking about that," she argued.

At that, Gaara faltered. He finally took a moment to survey her. Because he had been expecting her chakra to be coming from her, that was what her perceived. Once he really looked at her, he realized that it was all coming from within him. He could barely sense her presence it was so weak.

"You made me normal…" she smiled gently down at him. "It will take time for you to assimilate my chakra and truly make it part of your own. If you don't fight it so hard, it might not be so painful," she advised.

He gaped at her, hardly able to believe her words. He was expecting her to deny him because she still wanted to be with him. She did still want to be with him but that didn't seem to be her motivation. "You can't be serious!"

"You could force it back on me," she informed offhandedly.

The word force made Gaara flinch. "Is that what you want?"

"Ever since my chakra emerged, I wished for nothing but normalcy. After I got to know you, all I wanted was to be with you. If I can't have you, I want to be normal," she confessed. "I couldn't stand to be what I was and live without you, and neither could you. We would both have to live with that heartache for the rest of our lives. As soon as I can, I'll go as far from you as possible. You'll never hear a whisper of me again," she promised.

"What are you talking about?" Gaara gasped. "You're just trying to manipulate me."

She laughed. "I can't manipulate anybody. I can't sense anybody. When I close my eyes, I only know what's in my head and my heart," she marveled. "Don't you see? It's perfect."

"Perfect?" he scoffed. "You're nothing now! You might as well be dead!"

"The Calixta you knew is dead. You killed her," she answered surely.

At that Gaara started heaving again but there was nothing left in him, leaving him to spasm fruitlessly for almost a minute while the other two looked on with varying degrees of horror.

"A-Are you doing that to him?" Kankuro managed while his brother struggled to regain some sense of composure.

"He's doing it to himself," she sighed. "I have no control anymore."

"He said you could take your chakra back. That's what's messing him up so bad isn't it?" the older brother tried.

"I can't just take it back. He has to give it to me," she elaborated.

"And it sounds like that's what he wants to do! Look at him! If you really cared about him, you wouldn't let him suffer like this!" Kankuro unintentionally raised his voice.

"It won't help anything to change me back into what I was. The pain will just last longer. He'll get over it eventually. I don't know if I will and I can accept that but he shouldn't be tortured in the meantime, however long that is. This will only last a few days," she explained.

"Now you're just using me to escape from your problems!" Gaara accused.

"And you were using me to escape from yours," she offhandedly replied. "Trust me one last time. You will suffer either way. The difference is for how long," she frowned.

Kankuro didn't like her tone so he turned to his brother, "Gaara, just give it back to her."

"I would if she'd take it," he grumbled.

"She just said you could do it either way. Make her take back what's hers!" he insisted.

Gaara tried to consider what it would take to force her chakra back into her and how difficult it would be if she fought him, which she seemed intent to do, but he couldn't fathom doing something so intense and intimate to her against her will. "If she wants to suffer mediocrity…if you even manage that, then let her!" he spat.

"A wise choice. If you did force that existence on me I would not let you go. I would pester you until really did kill me. This way I can leave empty handed and try to never see you again. Then maybe we can try to forget," she suggested.

"Forget?" Gaara's heart started to race. "You want to forget me?"

"Only because it's the only thing I can do to heal your wounds now. After all, you said yourself that I'm nothing now. It shouldn't be that difficult to forget nothing."

"Who are you?" Gaara scoffed incredulously. "The woman I loved never wanted to forget anything!"

"That woman is gone now. You ate her up. All that's left is this weak, stupid little person who trembles at your very presence."

Gaara growled at her words, unable to speak because it felt like she was stepping on the ashes of what was left of his heart. As much as he would have liked to argue with her, she had a point in that he could never fully love someone who feared him.

"Serves me right anyway. I never deserved you…and then I had to go and get greedy and…it's probably better this way," she sighed.

"Things seemed better the other way, if you ask me," Kankuro chimed in.

"We can't go back to that now," she informed curtly.

"Why the hell not?" he continued.

"He won't allow it," she answered.

"But he's the one who wants to change you back!"

"But he still won't let us be together and that will cause even more pain than what we're dealing with right now," she managed.

"I would rather live without you than risk letting that demon hurt you again!" Gaara argued.

"I would rather risk having all of you than give you everything I am while you hide so much of yourself," she countered. "But you don't have to worry about that. Calixta is gone now."

"You're being cruel!" Kankuro tried to argue but neither of them seemed to listen to him. Just as he stood to do something about the situation, she spoke again.

"It was bound to happen eventually, if we were really to spend a lot of time together. It was too soon and I take responsibility for that, but why can't we learn from it, even use it to our advantage. I don't know what you remember or what Shukaku's told you but it wasn't that bad," she gave one last shot at reasoning with him.

"He'll destroy you!" Gaara growled.

"Then he won't be doing anything that you haven't already done," she bitterly replied.

"How dare you say that! I'm trying to protect you!"

"Gaara, please, this isn't getting anybody anywhere," Kankuro placed a sympathetic hand on his brother's shoulder.

Gaara tried to shrug it off but couldn't even manage that.

"I don't need to be protected. I need to be loved!" she insisted.

"Lots of people love you. You could easily find someone else to replace me, someone who won't turn into a raving demon and do god knows what," Gaara argued.

"I could find someone else but no one could replace you. I'll never find anyone like you." Then, before he could form a retort, she posed a question, "Tell me, what about Calixta did you find the most attractive?"

"Don't patronize me!" Gaara tried to lunge forward again but only made it about another foot closer to the bed.

"I mean it. It's a serious question," she replied but when she saw he wasn't going to humor her, she continued, "She was fearless, at least as far as you were concerned."

"She was also insane," Gaara grumbled.

Calixta glared down at him, "She never liked it when you called her that," she pointed out, "but she did like that you returned her fearlessness with your own."

He had been fearless but that didn't mean he didn't have his reservations. He wasn't worried about her overwhelming him because as far as he was concerned, she wasn't going to do anything that he would be opposed to anyway. What worried him was the thought of causing her harm after she had been so good to him or, god forbid, killing her. As he thought about it, he realized that what he had feared most was losing her and having it be his own fault.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him seriously.

"Don't ask stupid questions. You know what I'm thinking!" he snapped.

She gave a sad little laugh. "I can't sense anybody right now. I can hardly sense you and I'm sure that's because you hold my chakra."

He gave another growl of frustration and turned to leave. Kankuro tried to assist him but was shrugged off as his brother shambled off.

"You seemed to me like the most caring person in the world," Kankuro told her quietly. "Now I can see I was mistaken."

She frowned and looked away. "You think I should have taken it back, don't you?"

"That's what I said," he asserted.

"It would only prolong his suffering," she replied.

"You don't know that!"

"That is one thing I am sure of. I can't say how his feelings will change but I know _I won't stop loving him_. If I take back my chakra, he will have to suffer my heartbreak indefinitely. This way, he will only suffer so until he assimilates my chakra. Then, he can learn to forget me," she insisted.

Gaara had only made it just outside the house when he heard her voice through the window. He almost burst into Kankuro's room again in a rage. He could fathom no way that he could possibly forget her. She had left far too deep of an impression on him for that to happen. However, he just slumped over outside in the rain and cried.


	19. Washed away

Over the next few days, Kakashi made a point of passing by Calixta's home at least once a day. Things seemed calm enough, which was starting to ease his anxiety, until one day, his diligence was rewarded. As he passed by one afternoon, he saw her attempting to drag something out her front door. Curious, he approached.

"Need a hand?" he asked once he was sure he had successfully snuck up behind her.

She gave a startled squeak and nearly dropped the trunk she was dragging on her foot. Luckily, he was paying attention and caught it for her. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei," she finally said when she caught her breath. "Yes, thank you. It's much heavier than I remember," she muttered.

"I can't say I'm surprised," he commented as he took the load from her. "So…what are you doing with this?"

"It's the last thing left of Calixta's that I don't feel right in keeping," she replied, leading him into a clear patch of dirt in her backyard.

"What else was there?" he couldn't help asking.

"I returned the ankle bracelet that Ebisu gave her for her birthday and-" she stopped herself.

"And what?"

She blushed furiously, "And a bed sheet…that she got from Guy-sensei."

He gave her an inquizical look. "I thought you gave that back to him quite some time ago."

"You know about that?" she shifted uncomfortably at the idea.

"I happened to talk to Guy about it," he vaguely replied.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised…but look, Calixta gave you a lot of leeway into her personal life. That's not necessary anymore so I'd appreciate it if you were at least a little more discrete about it," she informed.

"I'll see what I can do about that if you tell me how you held on to that, unless he gave you another one," he suggested.

"She kept his and gave him another one in exchange," she explained. "It was a comfort item that is no longer necessary."

Usually, Kakashi appreciated her pragmatism but this time, however, that was not the case. "Is that how you feel about all the things you're getting rid of?"

She gave a sardonic little laugh, "I suppose in a certain capacity, you could look at them that way, though I wouldn't say that was my primary motivation every time," she admitted, distracted as she bent down to open the trunk.

"And all this?" he motioned to the trunk, noting that in a pile on top of her stacks of papers sat the returned pages that she had gifted to him, still folded in the shape of cranes with the strings he had used to suspend them neatly wrapped around them.

By then she was searching in her pockets. "There are some things that I miss about my old life. I miss being able to start a fire whenever I want," she mused dryly, finally revealing a pack of matches.

"You're going to burn it all?" he gasped.

"What else is there to do with it?" she glare as she stood.

"Well…if that's the case, then give me those cranes back," he began.

Her frown deepened. "You're even more sentimental than I thought. Fine, but that's all you get," she reluctantly agreed.

He knelt down and started pulling them out and setting them to the side. "What's this?" he asked after the first few he withdrew revealed a crumpled sheet. "You said you gave Guy's sheet back to him," he lifted it to get a better look.

"That's not his," she grumbled.

"Then who's is it?" he almost snapped because he really hated having to pry things out of her. He had finally gotten to the point where he didn't have to do that anymore, which only made the situation even more frustrating.

"G-Gaara-I-It's Gaara's," she barely managed when she saw the look of horror that distorted his features at the sight of the rips, the sex stains, and the smears of blood.

"That's your blood, isn't it?" he asked grimly.

"Of course it is, don't be stupid," she snapped. "Now, step away so I can get this over with."

Her sudden aggressiveness made him falter and he stepped away without thinking.

She was practically shaking as she struck the first match and used it ignite the rest of the pack but was only allowed to get that far before Gaara suddenly appeared before her. She shrieked and tossed the small fire into the air, where it landed a few feet from her and burned out before she remembered it. During this, Satu who had been happily asleep on the porch, basking in the afternoon sun, ran up and started barking defensively at the young man.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" she tried to demand.

Kakashi was also startled by the sudden intrusion but gave a much less discernable reaction.

He didn't reply to that. "What are you doing?" he asked instead.

"Nothing that concerns you," she snapped as she stood, looking around only to be disappointed by the fact that she would now need something else to set her blaze. "Great," she grumbled and started to walk back inside.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Gaara snapped.

"I'm gunna go get my lighter," she informed, her pace only faltering slightly when he raised his voice at her.

Because it gave him a chance to see what she intended to destroy, he let her go in favor of examining the contents of the trunk.

"I'm not sure you want to do that," Kakashi warned from a few feet away. To his surprise, Satu stayed close to his side, maintaining a defensive stance.

"I don't care what you're sure of," Gaara seethed, pulling the sheet the rest of the way out of the trunk. He tried not to look at it but he couldn't help seeing some of the traces of her blood and it made him sick to his stomach.

Kakashi watched the young man grow pale, almost green, before managing to fitfully throw the cloth aside.

"You know what all this is?" the sand ninja snapped as he started to look through it.

Surprised that he didn't seem to know about her writing habit at all, Kakashi wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "It's like her diary," he managed.

Gaara's frown deepened. Maybe she really had resigned herself to trying to forget.

Just then, she emerged. "Step away from there," she ordered as firmly as she could.

Gaara stood but didn't step away. He forced a dark little smile before trying to speak to her, "And here I was worried I was going to have to ask this guy to make sure you weren't going to come after me."

"You can rest assured that unless you say otherwise I am resigned to the situation as it stands. Now, stand back so I can finish this," she continued to order.

"If you're just going to burn it, I'm going to take it," he told her evenly.

Calixta glared at him and continued forward until the force of Gaara's chakra forced her to her knees. "You can't stop me."

She gave a pleading look to Kakashi to intervene. Accepting the cue, he moved in between the pair. "Gaara, this has gone far enough. Leave now or I'll have to make you leave," he threatened even though he wasn't sure he could actually accomplish such a thing.

Gaara just laughed at him until he could hear her gasping for breath behind him. Apparently, he'd gone a little overboard in trying to get his point across. So, he put up a cage of sand around them and let his chakra wane, allowing her to breath a little easier. He also made sure that the cage was large enough and the bars small enough that Satu couldn't escape.

"Gaara! Don't do this!" Kakashi scolded angrily.

"I will do as I please. Besides, Calixta told me that she gave me everything; I'm just keeping her honest," he glowered.

"I won't let you just take it!" she suddenly shouted. "Even if you leave here, you'll have to let me out eventually and I won't leave you alone, even if it means I have to burn down your house!" she threatened.

Kakashi whipped around and stared down at her in shock. "Calixta, I don't think you realize what you're saying," he tried to reason.

"I know exactly what I'm saying. There isn't anything in there that he couldn't have learned from me before our link was broken. Reading even one word of what's in there is cheating the deal!" she accused.

That made both her sensei and her ex falter.

"If you want to know Calixta then you should to do it the right way!" she continued to assert.

"You never do anything the right way!" Gaara countered.

"Well then now's a pretty good time to start," she bitterly replied.

Even without her empathy, Gaara could tell her threat was serious. "Then this is going to take quite a while," he told her as he sat down and pulled out the first sheet. "It's good to see you haven't entirely lost your fire though," he bitterly noted.

"I finally got tired of trying. I did everything I could think of and now I'm tired of trying. You're being such a bastard right now! I don't understand why you're doing this!" she yelled fitfully.

Gaara smirked. "I think I'm only just starting to realize how much you relied on your advantage over others."

"How dare you! It took years to turn my disadvantage into an advantage even a little bit," she defended but when she saw it wasn't making a difference she added, "The one you're looking for is on top of the other stack."

Kakashi shot her a suspicious sideways look.

"How can I be looking for something when I'm not even sure what all this is?" Gaara scoffed.

"Everyone always wants the same thing. They want the piece of paper with their name on it," she replied flatly.

He frowned when he saw that she was telling the truth.

Kakashi practically held his breath waiting for her to reply.

"I doubt you'll be satisfied by what you see though. No one's ever completely satisfied," she grumbled.

"You're still kind of a bitch too," he remarked bitterly.

"You had your chance," she reminded then, shot Kakashi a careful look out of the corner of her eye. It was one of the habits left over from when she had her power. Just getting a look at someone's aura told more than most expressions ever could. "I know, why don't we ask someone who knows." Before either of them could say anything, she continued. "Kakashi-sensei, after you read what I gave you, were you satisfied?"

The older man's heart skipped a beat. "Calixta-san, it's rude to put me on the spot so suddenly like that."

"Am I still bound by your no apologies rule?" she countered.

"For the time being, I think it should stand," he gave a little nod.

"Then, please, indulge me," she urged.

Kakashi took a few moments to think about what was being asked of him. First he had to figure out his honest answer and then whether or not that would be the answer he should give them. As he analyzed the experience, he realized that he felt much closer to Calixta for it but at the same time, he had felt as though there was something missing from her scribblings. He had been expecting a more well-rounded expression from the young woman and that was not at all what he read. "Gaara," he finally said.

"What is it now?" he asked distractedly, as he had managed to occupy himself with reading during the thoughtful silence.

"She's right," he conceded.

"I'm insulted that you'd just lump me in with everyone else and assume that I'd look for something in particular," Gaara scoffed.

She just sneered at him through the cage of sand.

"Tell me," he began again when he saw she was speechless. "Would you still come back to me if you had to stay as you are now?" he proposed.

She gave him an incredulous look. "That's not what you want," she pointed out.

"You have no idea what I want anymore," he countered.

"Of course I'd come back. I would feel incredibly inadequate, but I'd do it…if you'd have me," she added bitterly.

He gave her a critical look and then went back to reading. After he was finished with that page, he set it aside, "Do you still like my tattoo?" he asked curiously, "now that you know why it's there?" he asked as he withdrew the next sheet.

She didn't answer, concentrating on giving him the most painful glare she could manage but because she wasn't used to giving such harsh expressions, her face didn't exactly contort the way she wanted it to.

He shrugged and went back to reading while she put her head down on her knees and tried not to cry, Satu whimpering next to her. She was only successful for so long before tears were flowing down her cheeks without her permission.

At the sound of her first sniffle, Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts of trying to find a peaceful solution to their situation. "Hey, it's okay, really. Maybe he'll get bored and move on before too long," he wryly suggested.

"No, it's not okay," she grimly replied as she started to shake a little. "After everything that happened, I deserve to be treated like this…"

"Don't be such a baby!" Gaara snapped.

Calixta just turned her back to both of them and tried to sob as quietly as possible. It was a cruel irony for her that the time in her life when she felt the most violated, she had no empathy to show the violator that feeling, in hopes they would stop.

"Gaara, if you don't stop now, I'm going to have to send for help," Kakashi warned.

"Don't bother," Calixta said before Gaara could. "Here," she turned back around to face him, "Let's make a deal," she proposed.

"What kind of deal?" Gaara quirked a curious eyebrow.

"I give you all the pages about you to do with as you please and you let us go so I can finish what I started. That way, we don't have to bother anyone else with this," she bargained.

Gaara gave her a thoughtful nod. "Okay, deal," he released the cage surrounding them.

As soon as she gathered every piece that is now his, she went for her lighter again. "Stand back!" she ordered them, tossing in the bed sheet.

Gaara eyed the pile of cranes suspiciously but decided to wait to ask about that.

"Now hold on, Calixta-san," Kakashi coaxed. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do? I mean, you can't ever get it back if you do this."

"That's why this is the right thing to do," she asserted, Satu taking up a defensive position between them.

"Maybe there's a better way!" he continued to press.

"Like what?" she snapped.

Gaara snickered at their argument as he continued to read a few feet away. He wasn't going to go very far in case there was something he felt like burning in his pile now.

After a moment of thought, Kakashi replied, "Keep doing what you're doing, give them all away."

She gaped at him in shock. "Don't be ridiculous, being violated by the two of you was bad enough! Besides, some of those people never want to see me again, or they're dead," she reasoned.

"Then burn those. I know a great number of people, however, who would cherish such a gift. It would give them a way to remember Calixta just a little better," he continued.

"No, that's stupid! It's all a bunch of babbling nonsense now!" she insisted.

"I don't see why not," Gaara suddenly chimed in, not looking up from his page.

"You have no right to dictate to me! You gave up that privilege," she snapped.

"The way I see it yeah," the teen continued undeterred by her arguments, "I can see sharing it with one person, especially your sensei, but after two, why not go the whole way?" he proposed.

"I didn't volunteer to share this with Kakashi-sensei. He, like you, took it upon himself. Either way, the two of you know me probably better than anybody. If I were to voluntarily share these things, it would have been with either of you," she reasoned.

"Then why not Sasuke, too?" Gaara proposed. "He told me once that he probably knows you better than anybody, you know, since he's had your power and used it against you."

"No! Damn it! Just let me do this!" she demanded.

"Calixta-san," Kakashi put a careful hand on her shoulder, "I think you should wait at least a little while longer before you make this decision. Remember how painful it was for you when someone stole or destroyed what you'd written, for whatever reason?" he coaxed.

"No! I have to do this. It's over. There's nothing in there anymore but empty words; ink and scraps of paper! Every syllable has lost its soul!" she raved. "I have to destroy everything. It's an abomination!"

Kakashi forcibly stopped her from lighting her lighter this time. "Then, as your sensei, I am ordering you to wait and hold on to this trunk and it's remaining contents. If you can't do that, then I'll take it myself."

"You trust her with it?" Gaara scoffed.

"If you destroy any of it in the meantime, I'll see to it that you're expelled from the village, even if I have to do it myself," he vowed.

"You bastard!" she screamed, banging her fists ineffectually against his chest.

Because he was used to Calixta's former strength, Kakashi was somewhat startled by how feeble her outburst really was.

"You bastard! I knew you could never really understand but I thought you had enough sense to listen to me every once in a while," Calixta yelled back, weakly pushing him away. "No one can truly understand the meaning of these words anymore!"

"It all seems pretty straight forward to me," Gaara interjected, as he had yet to get to the part about the festival.

"You!" she turned to him, her eyes brimming with angry tears. "We had a chance, damn it!" she stomped her foot for effect but ended up losing her balance and stumbling forward a bit toward him. "Why did you give up on probably the only chance that either of us had at peace, at balance, maybe even happiness?" she raved.

"You know why I did what I did," Gaara sneered over his paper at her.

"Yeah, because you're selfish and you were scared! Because things weren't as easy as you thought they were going to be! And because you're arrogant!" she spat.

Kakashi gasped. This was probably the first time ever she had said anything so scathing to someone else.

"How dare you say such things about me! I did it to save your life!" Gaara indignantly replied.

"Add self-righteous and naïve to the list too then! You were so beautiful before and I can't see any of that now!" she fell to her knees. "I may have lost all of what you thought was special about me but in the process you've made it so I can't see you any differently than anybody else. All I see when I look at you now is the same hollow, meaningless mask that everyone else wears! As far as I'm concerned, you're not special anymore either," she muttered.

Gaara shot her a dangerous look over the top of what he was reading.

"Calixta!" Kakashi finally scolded. "That's enough. This is unproductive and I refuse to let to continue." He walked over and closed up her trunk. "I'm taking this back inside and putting it away and that's how it's going to stay until I say otherwise. Have I made myself clear?"

She glared weakly over her shoulder at him. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good. Now, go find me something to carry those cranes home in," he ordered.

With a grumble, Calixta stood and went inside. She was absolutely furious but she knew that when Kakashi took that tone with her, he was serious and that there was no arguing with him.

Then, with a little grunt of effort, Kakashi lifted the trunk. "And as for you," he turned and leveled a serious gaze on the young sand ninja still sitting in the grass reading. "I don't know why you really came here but I don't want you to bother Calixta anymore…at least not for a while. She doesn't need that right now. Why don't you take your reading elsewhere?"

Since he knew that there were more private places to do finish what he started, he gathered his papers and left without a word just as Calixta returned with a basket.

"He's gone…" she remarked almost sadly as she started to collect the paper birds.

Kakashi only nodded and took the trunk inside, sliding it beneath her bed as far as it would go. "Look," he told her once things were in order. "I hadn't intended to spend so much time here this afternoon so I still have things I need to do today but I'll be back later to check up on you," he informed as he started for the door.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," she agreed. "Is there anything you want me to do in the meantime?"

"Just think of a better way to get rid of your trunk if you really don't want it anymore," he told her and then was gone.

* * *

Gaara had decided from the start to read the pages in the stack he got from Calixta in the order they were already in. He was fortunate for this decision because they seemed to follow a certain chronological order, which made them a little easier to understand. When Kakashi told him that it was her diary, he had been expecting something closer to a narrative, or at least full sentences, but in that he was left largely wanting as he read through gigantic lists of descriptors, impressions, and the like. He could tell she just wrote whatever came into her mind because of the almost excessively free-form nature of the documents. After a while, he even began to speculate that sometimes, she only wrote a single word before putting the paper back.

He was pleased at first to find that although her style took a little getting used to, he didn't feel like he was really learning anything new about how she felt about him. He always felt that she had been an open book to him from the very start and it was nice to have that feeling affirmed.

His comfort, however, was reigned in as he continued to read over a large steaming bowl of chicken and rice. He didn't exactly want to explore her psyche in a public place but he hadn't eaten since the last time they had shared a meal together, something he only realized as he was on his way out of town and the tangy scent of sweet and sour sauce made his stomach growl. Since it was sort of an out of the way place, with small tables set back from the street, he gave in.

Gaara was only finished with his reading for a few minutes before his thoughts were disturbed by someone joining him without warning or invitation. "You," he narrowed his gaze across the table at the large old man with messy white hair now seated across from him. "What do you want?"

Jiraiya studied the young sand ninja for a moment. "You look like hell, son," he mused after a moment.

"I'm not your son," Gaara grumbled.

"But you still look like hell. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. If you've seen Calixta since you got here, I'm sure you'd find her in a similar state of disrepair," the older man commented.

"I am in far better shape than she is," he snapped petulantly.

"If you say so," he shrugged. "What's all this?" he motioned to the face down stack of papers sitting to Gaara's left under a large rock.

"None of your concern," Gaara dismissed. "Why are you bothering me?"

"I'm wondering why you're here…and to be honest I'm not the only one. Kakashi is still all bent out of shape about it."

"He should have minded his own business," the teen curtly replied.

"In case you aren't aware, she is very much his business. He is her sensei and I'm not sure what that means to you but they take that relationship very seriously, as does everyone here," Jiraiya informed.

"I am aware of their relationship, thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm sort of busy," he tried to get the older man to leave but to no avail.

"You weren't doing anything when I happened upon you. Tell me, does your sensei know you're here?" he tried.

"It's not a good day for fishing, old man," Gaara evaded.

"Then I just want to tell you about something. I'm not sure what you know about what Calixta really needs," he began carefully.

"I am very aware of her _needs_," the teen snapped.

"But on what level? I'm not saying that you weren't properly providing for her, but I just want to make sure you realize it."

Gaara simply grumbled and sat back in his chair, hoping the older man wouldn't talk for very long. He had a lot on his mind and being pestered like this wasn't helping him think.

"I'm sure you're aware by now that exclusivity between the two of you on a physical level is all but impossible," he paused a moment for the younger man to nod. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised you were okay with that."

"She was like that before she got to me. It wasn't my place to try to change that," he explained.

Jiraiya was impressed with the maturity of the tyrannical young man's outlook. "Whatever the case may be, she believes it is possible for her to be exclusive to you on some sort of emotional or spiritual level."

Gaara frowned because he wasn't exactly sure what the older man was getting at. The driving force behind her sexuality was a need for the emotional heights it provided.

"She only shares certain feelings with others, the ones she knows they will accept, which as you can probably imagine, severely limits her options. She needs someone she can share everything with, someone strong enough to take on the pains of her soul as well as the pleasures. Not everyone is strong enough to do that. She told me once, and I think she's right in this, that she'd be lucky to meet someone like that once in a lifetime."

The teen gave the older man a skeptical look across the small table between them.

"If I was a few years younger, I could have been one of those people," he informed flatly.

Gaara sneered. "A few years?" he scoffed. "Try a few decades, grandpa!"

Jiraiya shook his head in exasperation., knowing that his younger self would not have been up to what he was suggesting. "_But_ even if I was, I would have seriously considered letting you have her."

"What's your angle, old man? I don't have all god damn night," Gaara finally snapped.

"I just want to make sure you're aware that you were probably the only person who could ever really make her happy."

"And you're too ancient to do it," Gaara jibed, but mostly because he was extremely uncomfortable.

"I thought you were aware that you are most likely in the same boat," Jiraiya chided.

"You're wasting your time," the sand ninja finally grumbled.

"Oh? You're leaving?" Jiraiya asked hopefully.

"I have things to do," he stood and gathered his stack of papers.

"Think about what I said," the old master called after him.

"I don't have to," Gaara snapped over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving the intrusive older man to wonder if he had gotten through to him.

* * *

He went straight to Calixta's, stashing the stack of papers under her porch. Then, he entered her house without so much as a knock of warning, eliciting a shriek of surprise from her in the process.

"You made a deal with Shukaku?" Gaara demanded when he first saw her.

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you that," she grumbled.

"Just when I think you might show a tiny glimmer of sanity, something like this happens! Why didn't _you _tell me?" he continued to demand.

"I might have if I thought you would have listened to me," she countered willfully.

"If he ever sees you again, he'll kill you!" he threatened.

"Not necessarily. In fact, I bet if you nodded off right now, he'd shower me with kisses," she tried to brag.

"Yeah, then he'd fuck you up so bad no one would recognize your corpse," he hissed.

"Then it really would be over, wouldn't it?" she sneered. "But no, I don't think that's what would happen."

"Okay, if you're so smart, what would happen?"

She gave him a challenging look. "What course of action has Shukaku been pushing you toward?"

Gaara frowned and looked away. "He wants…" Even though he didn't have to consult Shukaku on the matter, the demon felt the desire to make his opinions on the matter known once again. "He wants us to pick back up where we left off," he managed bitterly.

She nodded. "Okay. Now, with that in mind, I think he would probably take the first steps of that for you. He seems to have an even worse habit of forcing the issue than I do."

The voice inside Gaara's head gave a low chuckle, "Smart cookie."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the teen scowled.

"He would give back my chakra whether I took it willingly or not. I would have to fight him…because I want you to do it and on terms we can both agree on. It would be unpleasant for both of us, to say the least, for it to happen otherwise," she tried to explain. He was about to speak again but she didn't notice and continued, "The really hard part would be how difficult it would be to resist giving in after I could start to feel his desire again."

"Stop it! Stop babbling! This isn't getting us anywhere!" Gaara suddenly interrupted.

"You asked," she shrugged.

"Why would you even make a deal like that," he backtracked their conversation a bit.

"Are you kidding? I needed a way to prove to him that he could trust me and he wasn't going to give me the opportunity to do that on his own. It was a good move, whether you want to admit it or not," she indignantly informed.

"I'm getting the impression that you've changed your mind," Gaara noted.

"Is that what you're trying to do?" she countered. "You want to badger me until I really don't like you?"

"Is it working?" he proposed.

"You're avoiding the issue," she accused.

"Okay, you want the real question? Why didn't you say something to me about your deal, if it was so good? Don't you think it would have been an even better move to tell me so that I would have a reason to keep you around?"

"Why don't you just go? If you don't want me, leave! I don't even know why you're here in the first place," she tried not to sob. "Is it to rub salt in the wound or was there something you wanted to say. If you're here to give that damn necklace back, don't bother. I still don't want it anymore."

Gaara had the jewelry in his pocket but he wasn't about to reveal that just yet. However, that didn't stop him from toying with it in secret.

"Besides, I don't want your obligation!" she suddenly screamed.

"Then why make that kind of deal in the first place?"

"In addition to prolonging my life or at least minimizing the physical damage, I wanted to see Shukaku again!" she asserted. "I told him I would try to do that because it was what I already wanted to do. I'm sure after all your reading, you've realized that it wasn't exactly an accident that he got out."

That admission made him realize that, at least in some capacity, she had been manipulating him, which at this point was only fair after everything that happened.

"You were with me because you wanted to be, because we each gained something significant from the experiences we shared. Everyone else that I've been with since I originally came to this village, everyone felt some sense of obligation toward me once they found what it meant for me," she confessed. "If you felt like you _had_ to be with me for any other reason than that you wanted to, what we had wouldn't be as wonderful, as beautiful. Though…I would be a liar if I said that even with all that, if you took me back out of a sense of obligation, I would still go with you."

Gaara shook his head in exasperation. "Even after all the mean words you said to me earlier. Even though you think I'm selfish and self-righteous?"

"Not you, just some of the things you did," she clarified and then, with a sigh, added, "But we did have some good times, didn't we?"

He barely stopped himself from smiling nostalgically. "While it lasted," he bitterly agreed.

She nodded and looked down at her lap. "W-We never got a good bye kiss you know," she proposed hopefully.

He gave her a coy little smile. "Yeah, okay," he agreed and started to crawl over to her. He watched with delight as a blush rose to her cheeks.

Calixta could feel her heart racing but didn't falter as they pressed their lips together. It was a soft, tentative gesture that only lasted a moment before there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she barely called and Kakashi entered, obviously startled at what he saw.

"What's going on here?" he questioned seriously when he saw the tears standing in Calixta's eyes.

"Gaara-san was just saying good bye. We didn't exactly get to before," she mused.

"I see," the older man stood impatiently next to the open door, hoping Gaara would take the hint.

It was obvious that both of them expected him to leave so, he found his way to his feet and started for the open door but stopped halfway to look over his shoulder to see that Calixta was standing to help show him to the door. The resigned but good natured smile she wore made his heart flutter and he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Calixta," he began suddenly, taking one of her hands in his.

"Gaara-san," she gasped.

Neither of them noticed Kakashi standing a few feet away practically chomping at the bit to tear them apart.

"Take me back, please," he pleaded quietly into her ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to ripple over her skin.

She gasped again and looked into his eyes. They were bloodshot and the dark circles around them had come back at full force but there was still a sparkle somewhere behind the weary haze that almost made her heart stop. Without thinking, she suddenly took his cheek in her off hand and kissed him.

Kakashi stared in shock at the pair as they embraced, her hand moving from his cheek to lace in his hair while his other hand slipped over her hip to rest on the small of her back. He sighed. He might have been able to stop them before but now he knew it would not be so easy. This unease was compounded by the feeling that he wasn't sure he wanted them to stop. If he had heard Gaara's quiet plea correctly, then he might not want to interfere.

Either way, he was pulled from his train of thought when he heard Calixta give a little whimper. He watched her cling to him as she stumbled forward, closing the distance between their bodies. Then, a moment later, they both fell to their knees. Luckily, it was a controlled descent, mostly thanks to Gaara.

"Ah, Gaara-san," she gasped when her knees hit the ground. "What changed your mind? Don't tell me it was those stupid papers," she scoffed breathily.

He squeezed her hand a little harder and nuzzled her neck, since she was no longer kissing him. "I needed time to think about what happened," he replied distractedly. "But I came here hoping we could work this out," he confessed.

She gasped again. "Then why didn't you-?" she wasn't allow to finish her question.

"Because I got distracted. I hope you can forgive me," he prayed.

"And my deal with Shukaku?" she asked with baited breath.

Gaara felt his stomach turn just a touch as he swallowed hard, "I still don't like it…but I trust you."

She couldn't speak for a long while after that so ended up reinitiating their kiss instead.

As Kakashi watched them, he felt compelled to leave because what they were experiencing seemed like such an intensely private moment. However, he was still worried and more than a little curious as to the outcome of this sudden turn of events. So, he was left to silently observe them as he carefully closed the front door.

When their kiss broke again, they were both breathing deeply and heavily. Without any sort of cue, they brought their other hands together. They were both practically trembling.

"You know I'm all for this but I don't know if I'll survive a heartbreak like that again. Please, just promise me you're serious," she pleaded.

"I promise," he agreed seriously.

"Oh, Gaara," she almost moaned, digging her fingers into the backs of his hands. This outburst earned her a little gasp of astonishment from the man still only a few feet away. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei," she tried to turn and focus her attention on him but it was extremely difficult. "Please don't be angry."

That last bit took Kakashi aback because he knew what it meant. He didn't really think he was angry or even if he was, it was more out of a sense of prolonged confusion than anything else. Regardless, she knew the feeling was there. "I-I should go," he finally admitted, doing so aloud for further motivation to actually commit it to action.

Gaara gave a protective little growl that refocused her attention on him and when the older man started to leave, he spoke distractedly to him, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

When he would had the opportunity to consider the evening in retrospect, Kakashi realized that one of the most surprising elements, at least for him, was the genuinely honest thanks from Gaara. It was what made him feel good about leaving them alone together. However, it didn't stop him from wandering listlessly about the streets.

When the door clicked shut, Gaara and Calixta's lips met again and he was able to return much of the energy stored in him, which left them both dizzy and gasping.

"Oh my god," she marveled, he eyes wandering around the room and over him.

"What is it?" he pressed.

She gave an almost foolish giggle. "Everything is so beautiful!" she awed. "I feel like I'm part of the world again."

He found himself laughing with her sympathetically before reinitiating their kiss once again but this time, once their lips met, he started to lean backward, pulling her down on top of him. They parted again when their embrace became too dizzying.

"We should slow down," she regretfully informed as she gasped for air above him.

"But I want you back now; I can't wait any longer, " he pouted petulantly.

"I know…but taking so much from you so quickly, especially since you haven't had much time to recover, might leave you a bit exhausted. I know I said I want to see Shukaku again but I don't think either of us is ready for it to happen again so soon," she playfully informed.

Gaara frowned. He had been enjoying their rather intense exchange and craved more of the same. However, he knew she was right, and backed off. To signal his willingness to trust her judgment, he laid back on the floor and folded his hand behind his head, looking up at her with a smirk of admiration. "So, I'm willing to respect your privacy if you tell me what's up with that trunk Kakashi wouldn't let you burn," he proposed.

She gave a little smile. "Okay, but only if I can have back what I gave you earlier. You've had plenty of time to go over it."

"Fair enough," he agreed. "They're under the porch."

"The beauty of the world overwhelms me at times. I found, that getting it out on paper made it easier to deal with," she bit her lip. "Over time, it sort of became a compulsion. I mostly write about people, because they are the most vibrant but occasionally another sort of creature or thing catches my attention," she confessed.

Gaara just smiled upward at her. He could hardly fathom such a problem since most of his life, all he could see in the world, especially its people, was how painfully ugly it all was. But then again, he always knew she was different.

"You, sir," she almost slurred, "are especially vibrant. I don't know if you realize that," she informed.

"Oh yeah?" he prompted, resting his hands on her hips and playing with the bottom of her blouse.

"Oh yes," she nearly raved. "So many intense colors…and you feel so intensely. You hardly show it, I know, but I think that makes your emotions even more intense. And then…it's like your chakra makes sympathetic vibrations with mine. Sometimes, it almost tickles," she giggled foolishly.

At this point, Gaara had decided that she was absolutely mad and that he loved her dearly for it.

"Then, there's Shukaku," she added with a wild look in her eyes that made Gaara's heart skip a beat.

"What about'im?" Gaara almost snapped.

"Don't get testy," she chided, tapping the end of his nose with the tip of her index finger. "I couldn't ignore him even if I wanted to. He exists almost as intensely as you do, quelled only by the fact that you force him to be subordinate to you. He makes your aura very dark sometimes, but not always in a bad way. For me, he exists as a strong undercurrent in your chakra. I can feel him teasing me sometimes. That's how I knew he wanted to meet face to face. Tell me what you thought of my scribblings," she suddenly requested.

Gaara faltered slightly at the sudden request. "I found them…enlightening," he managed. "I was very flattered, to say the least," he almost laughed. "And it was nice to get the full story about what happened that night. Shukaku failed to mention several fairly important items."

"I'm glad you weren't as disappointed as I expected."

"I don't understand how someone could be disappointed with what they saw about themselves," he finally pressed.

"Well, there are two reasons. The first is that many people want…a more well rounded interpretation. They want a reason to get mad, basically," she shrugged. "And then there's the fact that I can't help thinking how empty the words look on cold paper like that. Words are so subjective sometimes and even though most of what is read seems pretty straightforward, they still feel like they're lacking compared to how I feel."

Gaara nodded with understanding.

"But you don't need to worry about that anymore. Now, if you desire, you can know exactly how I feel. We won't need words for it," she almost bragged.

Just the idea almost overwhelmed him, "Uh, let's just stick to you and me for now, okay?" she almost laughed.

"Of course," she grinned and started to undress him. "I was so lonely," she confessed once his shirt was nearly off.

"I know, I'm sorry," he frowned.

"No, please. If I'm not allow to say I'm sorry to you then you're not allowed to say it to me either, got it?" she playfully scolded. "Besides, it only reinforced my conviction about how deeply I care for you."

Gaara returned her playful grin with one of his own and started to pull her shirt down off her shoulders but it quickly faded when he looked over her shoulder to see the bite mark on her shoulder and then, further down, the scratch marks across her back. "I-I thought you didn't scar."

"Oh…" she had a slight flash of regret but quickly pushed it aside, "A little gift left over from my time with Shukaku. Since I didn't have my chakra at the time, I wasn't able to fully heal," she explained.

"I see…" he also tried to push it aside, even though those were the only scars that marred her perfect skin. "I trust you've been in good hands while we were parted," he asked hopefully as his hand found her breast. To his disappointment, it didn't quite feel as he thought it should. He expected them to be full but they felt rather empty.

"Actually…I've hardly felt the touch of another since we parted," she bitterly assured.

"Oh?" he quirked a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah. I tried…because I wanted to see what it would be like…but it was all so empty that I could hardly go through with even the smallest embrace. I even tried to entertain myself but that didn't work either," she complained.

"That's interesting. I'm sure your many lovers were disappointed," he chided.

She gave him a strangely challenging look down at him. "Don't pretend like you care about any of them," she dismissed.

"What makes you so sure I don't? You know I can tell who you're close to. I might have a thing or two to say at your taste," he suggested haughtily.

She smirked. "I would accept your guidance," she conceded because she thought it would be, at the very least, interesting.

"That's good to know," he chuckled.

"But like you said, right now it's just you and me." She started to work on his pants.

"So eager already," he teased.

"Oh, I didn't realize you want to move slowly," she chided.

"Actually, I'm just curious. You don't seem to have any milk for me anymore," he finally revealed his disappointment.

She sank a little at that. "Yeah, I saw no reason to continue trying to produce it when it wasn't helping anybody anymore," she sighed.

"I understand," he nodded.

"But…" she smiled," it was started because they received so much attention. I'm sure it wouldn't take much to restart the process," she winked and he immediately sat up, pulled her shirt down her arms and got to work.

"Now who's eager?" she teased.

He didn't respond, he was too busy deciding that he would pay her breasts as much attention as possible until her healing spring returned, reveling in the way she squirmed in his lap and the adorable little sounds she made.

The more he touched her, the more she felt her power returning to her. Before long, they were no longer experiencing just the passive effects of her chakra. He almost gasped when she first asserted her power over him. She was absolutely giddy and that feeling only served to egg him on.

Just as he was starting to think he was making progress, he thought he tasted the first drops of milk on his tongue, she started to pull him away.

"Gaara," she pleaded, taking his cheeks in her hands and trying to guide him upward but he petulantly fought her. "Gaara, please, kiss me," she pleaded when her nipple finally popped from his lips.

When he saw the look in her eyes, he didn't think, only complied. When their lips met again, he felt an incredible rush. She was actively drawing out the rest of her chakra, rather than taking it as he offered as she had in the beginning. When he broke the kiss to gasp a moment later, she continued to hold his face close to hers.

"Don't forget to breathe," she half-teased before pressing her lips against his once more.

Her forcefulness made him falter but her confidence quickly fixed that. Before long, she was once again squirming and squealing in his lap. All the while, one of his hands rested on the small of her back, to steady her, and the other massaged her breasts. When she was about three quarters of the way restored, she let their kiss end. By that point, Gaara was barely kissing back. It wasn't that his actions lacked conviction, it was just so overwhelming to have her power drawn out of him so suddenly just as his body was starting to think it could actually assimilate the energy.

Seeing how dazed she left him, she laid him down, resting her head on his chest and letting one hand toy with his partially exposed erection.

"You are absolutely unbelievable, leading me on like that. Why did you wait so long to do this if it's the reason you came here?" she playfully demanded.

For a moment, Gaara could only grit his teeth to bite back a moan of pleasure at her fondling him so expertly. "What you were doing when I approached…it made me curious," he admitted.

She nodded with understanding. "I missed you so much," she kissed his chest.

He grinned a bit because the gesture tickled. "I know. I missed you too," he admitted with a sigh of contentment. Then, he sighed again, but this time it sounded a little more thoughtful. "I almost wish I'd waited to give back your power. I was curious to see what kind of lover you would be without it," he admitted.

She gave a sad little smile upward. "I'm not sure how fulfilling it would be but perhaps we could explore that another time," she suggested.

He couldn't believe she was so casual about the suggestion and just ended up nodding in response. Then, because she sensed they were done talking, she leaned up a bit and started to tease his nipple with her tongue. He gave a little jerk of surprise before rolling her onto her back so he could start playing with her breasts again. It didn't take as long this time for him to receive another few drops of milk but found, once again, that was all she had to give. Not that it mattered, he knew that her supply was dependent on the demand she received.

She knew what he was after and his determination and desire made her breasts tingle. She knew it wouldn't be long before he was rewarded at the pace he was going. He withdrew sooner than she expected but it was only to roll them back over so that she was on top of him. Once there, they finished undressing and before Gaara's mouth could find her breasts again, she leaned down and kissed him.

Just as Gaara was about to position himself at her entrance, he could feel her drawing the rest of her chakra back into her. It made his eyes roll and his body arch almost painfully because that was the portion that he had managed to assimilate into his own. Because of this, she ended up taking a fair portion of his chakra with it. It made him light headed as he kneaded her hips fitfully.

"Aaah!" she breathed when she was finished, tossing her head back and sitting up, straddling his hips. "Oh, Ai-sama…" her head thrashed from side to side, further mussing her already messy hair.

"Cali…-sama…" Gaara groaned, barely aware of what he was saying. Then, even if he did have a chance of recovering, she started her descent on his shaft. They were both practically trembling already so she didn't immediately rise up again for another thrust. Rather, she let her hips rest on his and rolled them against one another, creating an intoxicating stirring sensation inside her. "Oh, Cali…it's not fair…" he groaned after a moment.

She considered stopping but sensed that he didn't want her to. "What's the matter sweetie?" she asked sweetly, gently running the back of her hand along his jaw.

"It's all so much at once," he moaned. "How can you stand it?"

"It does take some getting used to," she admitted breathily. "Once I get my equilibrium closer to normal, it won't be as bad."

He nodded and bit his lip. "I don't care…I want everything you are," he finally admitted.

At that, they both felt an immense warmth well up inside them. Calixta barely held back her tears of joy but the emotions behind them were so intense that one of them had to give into them. Suddenly, Gaara felt stinging tears welling up in his eyes.

"Agh," he brought an arm up to wipe them away.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she almost laughed with even greater joy at the show of his empathy toward her but at the same time, she was giving into the tear-jerking emotions so he wouldn't have to. So, he was allowed her laughter instead, much to his awing bliss.

The torrent of emotions left Gaara extremely off balance so to compensate, Calixta returned some of his chakra that she had managed to filter out of her own. That managed to give back some of his vigor and his hands returned to her hips, encouraging her to continue their thrusts. She happily obliged.

As they rushed toward orgasm, Gaara couldn't help awing up at her. Her hair was still a disheveled mess and there were dark circles under her eyes from stress and lack of sleep, but those were quickly fading. Her eyes were sparkling in the dim light of her living room and for a moment, he could swear her skin was glowing the most intense, throbbing purple that he had ever seen. She looked like a goddess to him, something not of the earth. Or perhaps she was too close to her earthy roots, like the nymphs, whose natures frequently quashed any sort of civilized sensibility.

When he was so close to cumming that he could hardly see, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Cali-sama, I love you!" he cried into her shoulder, more tears stinging his eyes but this time he knew they were his own.

"Ai-sama," she cried back as she came again. "Never cut yourself off from me again, no matter what!"

"Never again," he vowed before words were lost to him again and he found himself cumming inside her a minute later. After a few moments of euphoria, Gaara laid back down, taking Calixta with him to lay down on top of him.

"Now what?" she asked him seriously after they had a chance to catch their breath and make sure all their chakra was in the right places.

Gaara chuckled, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Well, I have quite a few things I need to set straight again now…but that will wait until tomorrow. I don't have the head for it at the moment," she giggled.

He nodded.

"Perhaps we could go out to dinner. Letting others see us together will do much of the explaining for us," she pointed out.

He nodded again. "That's fine…but I was thinking more in general. I want this to work and you seem to think you have a pretty good idea how we can do that so I want to hear it. Yeah, I get a lot from you. A lot of it I don't really understand," he admitted with a grumble. "But don't assume I know everything. I'll let you know if you're telling me something I already know," he assured.

She smiled up at him. "That sounds perfectly fair. Though, you should know I'm sort of making this up as we go along so feel free to make suggestions," she teased. "But seriously, I know this is a huge commitment but we both have almost equally large commitments in our lives already. Whether I like it or not, I have to finish my service here before I can really do much else."

"How long will that be?" he questioned curiously.

"Another year or so, depending on what they have me doing," she shrugged.

"Then what?" he pressed.

"I dunno. I haven't really thought about it. I sort of like the idea of being a free agent after being tied down for so long…but this commitment doesn't sound nearly as bad," she giggled again. "Perhaps I'll go see what you're doing at the time," she winked.

He laughed at her facetiousness. "That sounds promising. I don't think I'll be going anywhere so I'll be waiting for you," he warned. "What about your deal with Shukaku?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping to see you here and there in the meantime. It would be terribly depressing to have to spend all that time without you. I was thinking that perhaps I could return for the next monsoon festival. By then, I think we'll have enough time to think about everything and it almost seems appropriate that we do it then."

"When it rains, it pours," Gaara grumbled. "Okay. Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," she kissed his chest. Then, she got up, intending to get dressed.

"There is one more thing, actually," he told her once his pants were on.

"What's that?" she eagerly prompted.

"Wear this again," he pulled the necklace out of his pocket.

"I thought it was broken…" she awed as he drew closer.

He smiled. "I fixed the chain but the gem is still cracked. We can get you a new one if you like," he offered.

"Not at all. I think it's more charming this way. Please, help me get it on. I have the most terrible time with those little clasps," she turned around and he obliged.

* * *

"Oh, Gaara, you may not want to hear this but I don't think I ever really appreciated my perspective on the world until it was so suddenly shifted and I have you to thank for that," she admitted as they walked to dinner. "The colors almost seem more vibrant than before," she raved.

He had never seen her so giddy. She didn't even seem to notice the looks of incredulity they were receiving as they walked. "Uh, Calixta," he began carefully as they turned a corner.

"What is it?" she asked merrily.

"Every once in a while, I see these strange colors around things," he told her, trying not to sound like he was complaining. He already figured it was her fault but since she was mentioning it, he wanted to say something.

She gave a guilty little smile. "I see those kinds of colors all the time. If you don't like it, the effect will probably wear off before too long. I can't say whether or not you'd be able to hold on to it," she theorized. "What do you see?" she finally gave into her curiosity.

"Mostly reds, some orange…occasionally green or blue," he managed, making vague motions to people as they passed.

She nodded. "That's what I see too," she affirmed, even though she felt that perhaps it wasn't exactly the same.

"Have you noticed any other changes?" she asked almost hopefully.

He thought for a moment. Even though it felt as though the world was practically vibrating at some moments, he thought that he was still reeling from their last chakra exchange and figured it was just part of that. "Not that I've noticed so far," he shrugged.

She nodded and led him into a restaurant. "You know, one of these times, I'm going to have to cook for you. It seems that every time we're together, we go out to eat," she mused as they were shown to their table.

"That's because we're always too busy for nonsense like that," he dismissed even though part of him craved her cooking.

She giggled and sat down. She didn't even bother with menus, ordering for them from memory to save time.

As they sat, Gaara couldn't help looking around nervously, as though he felt someone watching them.

"What's the matter? You've hardly sat still since we got here," she pointed out.

"I keep expecting someone to say something to us. I mean, they've done plenty of staring," he grumbled.

She gave a gentle smile that won back his attention at least for a moment. "They will respond in their own time. I think they just want to make sure they know what they're seeing," she reasoned.

As they ate, he realized it wasn't just the staring that was making him so paranoid. "I don't know how you can stand it," he sighed, setting down his chopsticks.

"What's that?" she blinked curiously.

"It's like I can sense everyone in this room…It's like trying to listen to one person talking in a crowd of people," he complained.

She reached over and took his now free hand in her own. "I know. It does take some getting used to but as I said, I think the only reason you're sharing in that right now is because of the recent exchange. It'll probably wear off after a while if that's what you want."

Gaara frowned. "I don't know if I want it to stop. It's just a lot at once. How do you deal with it?" he asked curiously.

"Well…I don't know really. It didn't hit me all at once. For me, it was a gradual process. At first, it was only people who were close to me. That's why that aspect is still the most difficult for me to control. So, I should probably warn you that if you can sense others then they are probably more aware of you." She looked around and was pleased that did not seem to be the case. "I suggest, however, that it helps to find a focal point. One thing or person to focus your attention on, to use to block out the rest of the noise."

He nodded and tried that. It made sense and it seemed to help a great deal. Of course, he chose to focus on her, much to her delight. The rest of their meal was uneventful and they left shortly after.

"What about Baki?" she asked when she suddenly remembered him.

"What about him?" Gaara scoffed.

"Well, you know, I was just wondering about his role in all this," she mused.

"Ah, well, I didn't exactly ask him if I could come here, which is probably what will bother him the most, but I did leave him a note so that should work in my favor. More than anything, I think he'll just be really annoyed. If he and I agree on one thing it's that we both hate drama. I understand now that it had to be worked through for this to work but I'm not sure he'll feel the same way. But…as long as I don't make any waves for a while, he should calm down pretty quickly," he replied thoughtfully.

She nodded. "I know he doesn't really like me, not that he tries to hide it, so I'll try to do the same," she vowed.

Just then, someone appeared in front of them on the busy street. It was Jiraiya.

"Ugh," Gaara grumbled when he saw the old man. "Not him again."

Calixta quirked a curious eyebrow but wasn't allowed to ask what that meant because the white-haired man noticed them and was making his way through the crowd toward them.

"Can we just go? There's enough people here, I bet we could lose him pretty quickly," Gaara tried.

"It won't take long. He's already drunk," she noted. "And I know how to send him away without making him feel bad about it."

"Ah! Cali-chan! Gaara-kun!" he merrily greeted, throwing an arm around each of them only to find that they were far too short for him to lean on.

"Good evening, Master Jiraiya," she greeted with a mock-shy smile and a slight bow.

"I see Gaara found you. I'm happy to see that you've resolved your differences," he informed haughtily.

Gaara almost smiled but didn't say anything.

"Yes, we've managed to work things out. Actually," she put a hand up as though she was telling him a secret, even though she was speaking loud enough for anyone to hear. "We were just on our way back to my place after a celebration dinner," she informed with a wink.

Jiraiya laughed heartily and gave Gaara a too-enthusiastic pat on the back, making the small young man stumble forward with surprise. "Give'er hell, son," he winked and stumbled off.

"I'm not your son!" Gaara called after him angrily when he regained his footing.

Calixta simply giggled, took his arm, and brought him home. On their way he realized that, even though he wasn't trying to encourage or discourage the strange experiences he was having because of her, the effects over him seemed to be fading already. By morning, they would surely be gone.


	20. Revival

Over the next few days, Kakashi made a point of passing by Calixta's home at least once a day. Things seemed calm enough, which was starting to ease his anxiety, until one day, his diligence was rewarded. As he passed by one afternoon, he saw her attempting to drag something out her front door. Curious, he approached.

"Need a hand?" he asked once he was sure he had successfully snuck up behind her.

She gave a startled squeak and nearly dropped the trunk she was dragging on her foot. Luckily, he was paying attention and caught it for her. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei," she finally said when she caught her breath. "Yes, thank you. It's much heavier than I remember," she muttered.

"I can't say I'm surprised," he commented as he took the load from her. "So…what are you doing with this?"

"It's the last thing left of Calixta's that I don't feel right in keeping," she replied, leading him into a clear patch of dirt in her backyard.

"What else was there?" he couldn't help asking.

"I returned the ankle bracelet that Ebisu gave her for her birthday and-" she stopped herself.

"And what?"

She blushed furiously, "And a bed sheet…that she got from Guy-sensei."

He gave her an inquizical look. "I thought you gave that back to him quite some time ago."

"You know about that?" she shifted uncomfortably at the idea.

"I happened to talk to Guy about it," he vaguely replied.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised…but look, Calixta gave you a lot of leeway into her personal life. That's not necessary anymore so I'd appreciate it if you were at least a little more discrete about it," she informed.

"I'll see what I can do about that if you tell me how you held on to that, unless he gave you another one," he suggested.

"She kept his and gave him another one in exchange," she explained. "It was a comfort item that is no longer necessary."

Usually, Kakashi appreciated her pragmatism but this time, however, that was not the case. "Is that how you feel about all the things you're getting rid of?"

She gave a sardonic little laugh, "I suppose in a certain capacity, you could look at them that way, though I wouldn't say that was my primary motivation every time," she admitted, distracted as she bent down to open the trunk.

"And all this?" he motioned to the trunk, noting that in a pile on top of her stacks of papers sat the returned pages that she had gifted to him, still folded in the shape of cranes with the strings he had used to suspend them neatly wrapped around them.

By then she was searching in her pockets. "There are some things that I miss about my old life. I miss being able to start a fire whenever I want," she mused dryly, finally revealing a pack of matches.

"You're going to burn it all?" he gasped.

"What else is there to do with it?" she glare as she stood.

"Well…if that's the case, then give me those cranes back," he began.

Her frown deepened. "You're even more sentimental than I thought. Fine, but that's all you get," she reluctantly agreed.

He knelt down and started pulling them out and setting them to the side. "What's this?" he asked after the first few he withdrew revealed a crumpled sheet. "You said you gave Guy's sheet back to him," he lifted it to get a better look.

"That's not his," she grumbled.

"Then who's is it?" he almost snapped because he really hated having to pry things out of her. He had finally gotten to the point where he didn't have to do that anymore, which only made the situation even more frustrating.

"G-Gaara-I-It's Gaara's," she barely managed when she saw the look of horror that distorted his features at the sight of the rips, the sex stains, and the smears of blood.

"That's your blood, isn't it?" he asked grimly.

"Of course it is, don't be stupid," she snapped. "Now, step away so I can get this over with."

Her sudden aggressiveness made him falter and he stepped away without thinking.

She was practically shaking as she struck the first match and used it ignite the rest of the pack but was only allowed to get that far before Gaara suddenly appeared before her. She shrieked and tossed the small fire into the air, where it landed a few feet from her and burned out before she remembered it. During this, Satu who had been happily asleep on the porch, basking in the afternoon sun, ran up and started barking defensively at the young man.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" she tried to demand.

Kakashi was also startled by the sudden intrusion but gave a much less discernable reaction.

He didn't reply to that. "What are you doing?" he asked instead.

"Nothing that concerns you," she snapped as she stood, looking around only to be disappointed by the fact that she would now need something else to set her blaze. "Great," she grumbled and started to walk back inside.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Gaara snapped.

"I'm gunna go get my lighter," she informed, her pace only faltering slightly when he raised his voice at her.

Because it gave him a chance to see what she intended to destroy, he let her go in favor of examining the contents of the trunk.

"I'm not sure you want to do that," Kakashi warned from a few feet away. To his surprise, Satu stayed close to his side, maintaining a defensive stance.

"I don't care what you're sure of," Gaara seethed, pulling the sheet the rest of the way out of the trunk. He tried not to look at it but he couldn't help seeing some of the traces of her blood and it made him sick to his stomach.

Kakashi watched the young man grow pale, almost green, before managing to fitfully throw the cloth aside.

"You know what all this is?" the sand ninja snapped as he started to look through it.

Surprised that he didn't seem to know about her writing habit at all, Kakashi wasn't exactly sure how to answer. "It's like her diary," he managed.

Gaara's frown deepened. Maybe she really had resigned herself to trying to forget.

Just then, she emerged. "Step away from there," she ordered as firmly as she could.

Gaara stood but didn't step away. He forced a dark little smile before trying to speak to her, "And here I was worried I was going to have to ask this guy to make sure you weren't going to come after me."

"You can rest assured that unless you say otherwise I am resigned to the situation as it stands. Now, stand back so I can finish this," she continued to order.

"If you're just going to burn it, I'm going to take it," he told her evenly.

Calixta glared at him and continued forward until the force of Gaara's chakra forced her to her knees. "You can't stop me."

She gave a pleading look to Kakashi to intervene. Accepting the cue, he moved in between the pair. "Gaara, this has gone far enough. Leave now or I'll have to make you leave," he threatened even though he wasn't sure he could actually accomplish such a thing.

Gaara just laughed at him until he could hear her gasping for breath behind him. Apparently, he'd gone a little overboard in trying to get his point across. So, he put up a cage of sand around them and let his chakra wane, allowing her to breath a little easier. He also made sure that the cage was large enough and the bars small enough that Satu couldn't escape.

"Gaara! Don't do this!" Kakashi scolded angrily.

"I will do as I please. Besides, Calixta told me that she gave me everything; I'm just keeping her honest," he glowered.

"I won't let you just take it!" she suddenly shouted. "Even if you leave here, you'll have to let me out eventually and I won't leave you alone, even if it means I have to burn down your house!" she threatened.

Kakashi whipped around and stared down at her in shock. "Calixta, I don't think you realize what you're saying," he tried to reason.

"I know exactly what I'm saying. There isn't anything in there that he couldn't have learned from me before our link was broken. Reading even one word of what's in there is cheating the deal!" she accused.

That made both her sensei and her ex falter.

"If you want to know Calixta then you should to do it the right way!" she continued to assert.

"You never do anything the right way!" Gaara countered.

"Well then now's a pretty good time to start," she bitterly replied.

Even without her empathy, Gaara could tell her threat was serious. "Then this is going to take quite a while," he told her as he sat down and pulled out the first sheet. "It's good to see you haven't entirely lost your fire though," he bitterly noted.

"I finally got tired of trying. I did everything I could think of and now I'm tired of trying. You're being such a bastard right now! I don't understand why you're doing this!" she yelled fitfully.

Gaara smirked. "I think I'm only just starting to realize how much you relied on your advantage over others."

"How dare you! It took years to turn my disadvantage into an advantage even a little bit," she defended but when she saw it wasn't making a difference she added, "The one you're looking for is on top of the other stack."

Kakashi shot her a suspicious sideways look.

"How can I be looking for something when I'm not even sure what all this is?" Gaara scoffed.

"Everyone always wants the same thing. They want the piece of paper with their name on it," she replied flatly.

He frowned when he saw that she was telling the truth.

Kakashi practically held his breath waiting for her to reply.

"I doubt you'll be satisfied by what you see though. No one's ever completely satisfied," she grumbled.

"You're still kind of a bitch too," he remarked bitterly.

"You had your chance," she reminded then, shot Kakashi a careful look out of the corner of her eye. It was one of the habits left over from when she had her power. Just getting a look at someone's aura told more than most expressions ever could. "I know, why don't we ask someone who knows." Before either of them could say anything, she continued. "Kakashi-sensei, after you read what I gave you, were you satisfied?"

The older man's heart skipped a beat. "Calixta-san, it's rude to put me on the spot so suddenly like that."

"Am I still bound by your no apologies rule?" she countered.

"For the time being, I think it should stand," he gave a little nod.

"Then, please, indulge me," she urged.

Kakashi took a few moments to think about what was being asked of him. First he had to figure out his honest answer and then whether or not that would be the answer he should give them. As he analyzed the experience, he realized that he felt much closer to Calixta for it but at the same time, he had felt as though there was something missing from her scribblings. He had been expecting a more well-rounded expression from the young woman and that was not at all what he read. "Gaara," he finally said.

"What is it now?" he asked distractedly, as he had managed to occupy himself with reading during the thoughtful silence.

"She's right," he conceded.

"I'm insulted that you'd just lump me in with everyone else and assume that I'd look for something in particular," Gaara scoffed.

She just sneered at him through the cage of sand.

"Tell me," he began again when he saw she was speechless. "Would you still come back to me if you had to stay as you are now?" he proposed.

She gave him an incredulous look. "That's not what you want," she pointed out.

"You have no idea what I want anymore," he countered.

"Of course I'd come back. I would feel incredibly inadequate, but I'd do it…if you'd have me," she added bitterly.

He gave her a critical look and then went back to reading. After he was finished with that page, he set it aside, "Do you still like my tattoo?" he asked curiously, "now that you know why it's there?" he asked as he withdrew the next sheet.

She didn't answer, concentrating on giving him the most painful glare she could manage but because she wasn't used to giving such harsh expressions, her face didn't exactly contort the way she wanted it to.

He shrugged and went back to reading while she put her head down on her knees and tried not to cry, Satu whimpering next to her. She was only successful for so long before tears were flowing down her cheeks without her permission.

At the sound of her first sniffle, Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts of trying to find a peaceful solution to their situation. "Hey, it's okay, really. Maybe he'll get bored and move on before too long," he wryly suggested.

"No, it's not okay," she grimly replied as she started to shake a little. "After everything that happened, I deserve to be treated like this…"

"Don't be such a baby!" Gaara snapped.

Calixta just turned her back to both of them and tried to sob as quietly as possible. It was a cruel irony for her that the time in her life when she felt the most violated, she had no empathy to show the violator that feeling, in hopes they would stop.

"Gaara, if you don't stop now, I'm going to have to send for help," Kakashi warned.

"Don't bother," Calixta said before Gaara could. "Here," she turned back around to face him, "Let's make a deal," she proposed.

"What kind of deal?" Gaara quirked a curious eyebrow.

"I give you all the pages about you to do with as you please and you let us go so I can finish what I started. That way, we don't have to bother anyone else with this," she bargained.

Gaara gave her a thoughtful nod. "Okay, deal," he released the cage surrounding them.

As soon as she gathered every piece that is now his, she went for her lighter again. "Stand back!" she ordered them, tossing in the bed sheet.

Gaara eyed the pile of cranes suspiciously but decided to wait to ask about that.

"Now hold on, Calixta-san," Kakashi coaxed. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do? I mean, you can't ever get it back if you do this."

"That's why this is the right thing to do," she asserted, Satu taking up a defensive position between them.

"Maybe there's a better way!" he continued to press.

"Like what?" she snapped.

Gaara snickered at their argument as he continued to read a few feet away. He wasn't going to go very far in case there was something he felt like burning in his pile now.

After a moment of thought, Kakashi replied, "Keep doing what you're doing, give them all away."

She gaped at him in shock. "Don't be ridiculous, being violated by the two of you was bad enough! Besides, some of those people never want to see me again, or they're dead," she reasoned.

"Then burn those. I know a great number of people, however, who would cherish such a gift. It would give them a way to remember Calixta just a little better," he continued.

"No, that's stupid! It's all a bunch of babbling nonsense now!" she insisted.

"I don't see why not," Gaara suddenly chimed in, not looking up from his page.

"You have no right to dictate to me! You gave up that privilege," she snapped.

"The way I see it yeah," the teen continued undeterred by her arguments, "I can see sharing it with one person, especially your sensei, but after two, why not go the whole way?" he proposed.

"I didn't volunteer to share this with Kakashi-sensei. He, like you, took it upon himself. Either way, the two of you know me probably better than anybody. If I were to voluntarily share these things, it would have been with either of you," she reasoned.

"Then why not Sasuke, too?" Gaara proposed. "He told me once that he probably knows you better than anybody, you know, since he's had your power and used it against you."

"No! Damn it! Just let me do this!" she demanded.

"Calixta-san," Kakashi put a careful hand on her shoulder, "I think you should wait at least a little while longer before you make this decision. Remember how painful it was for you when someone stole or destroyed what you'd written, for whatever reason?" he coaxed.

"No! I have to do this. It's over. There's nothing in there anymore but empty words; ink and scraps of paper! Every syllable has lost its soul!" she raved. "I have to destroy everything. It's an abomination!"

Kakashi forcibly stopped her from lighting her lighter this time. "Then, as your sensei, I am ordering you to wait and hold on to this trunk and it's remaining contents. If you can't do that, then I'll take it myself."

"You trust her with it?" Gaara scoffed.

"If you destroy any of it in the meantime, I'll see to it that you're expelled from the village, even if I have to do it myself," he vowed.

"You bastard!" she screamed, banging her fists ineffectually against his chest.

Because he was used to Calixta's former strength, Kakashi was somewhat startled by how feeble her outburst really was.

"You bastard! I knew you could never really understand but I thought you had enough sense to listen to me every once in a while," Calixta yelled back, weakly pushing him away. "No one can truly understand the meaning of these words anymore!"

"It all seems pretty straight forward to me," Gaara interjected, as he had yet to get to the part about the festival.

"You!" she turned to him, her eyes brimming with angry tears. "We had a chance, damn it!" she stomped her foot for effect but ended up losing her balance and stumbling forward a bit toward him. "Why did you give up on probably the only chance that either of us had at peace, at balance, maybe even happiness?" she raved.

"You know why I did what I did," Gaara sneered over his paper at her.

"Yeah, because you're selfish and you were scared! Because things weren't as easy as you thought they were going to be! And because you're arrogant!" she spat.

Kakashi gasped. This was probably the first time ever she had said anything so scathing to someone else.

"How dare you say such things about me! I did it to save your life!" Gaara indignantly replied.

"Add self-righteous and naïve to the list too then! You were so beautiful before and I can't see any of that now!" she fell to her knees. "I may have lost all of what you thought was special about me but in the process you've made it so I can't see you any differently than anybody else. All I see when I look at you now is the same hollow, meaningless mask that everyone else wears! As far as I'm concerned, you're not special anymore either," she muttered.

Gaara shot her a dangerous look over the top of what he was reading.

"Calixta!" Kakashi finally scolded. "That's enough. This is unproductive and I refuse to let to continue." He walked over and closed up her trunk. "I'm taking this back inside and putting it away and that's how it's going to stay until I say otherwise. Have I made myself clear?"

She glared weakly over her shoulder at him. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good. Now, go find me something to carry those cranes home in," he ordered.

With a grumble, Calixta stood and went inside. She was absolutely furious but she knew that when Kakashi took that tone with her, he was serious and that there was no arguing with him.

Then, with a little grunt of effort, Kakashi lifted the trunk. "And as for you," he turned and leveled a serious gaze on the young sand ninja still sitting in the grass reading. "I don't know why you really came here but I don't want you to bother Calixta anymore…at least not for a while. She doesn't need that right now. Why don't you take your reading elsewhere?"

Since he knew that there were more private places to do finish what he started, he gathered his papers and left without a word just as Calixta returned with a basket.

"He's gone…" she remarked almost sadly as she started to collect the paper birds.

Kakashi only nodded and took the trunk inside, sliding it beneath her bed as far as it would go. "Look," he told her once things were in order. "I hadn't intended to spend so much time here this afternoon so I still have things I need to do today but I'll be back later to check up on you," he informed as he started for the door.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," she agreed. "Is there anything you want me to do in the meantime?"

"Just think of a better way to get rid of your trunk if you really don't want it anymore," he told her and then was gone.

Gaara had decided from the start to read the pages in the stack he got from Calixta in the order they were already in. He was fortunate for this decision because they seemed to follow a certain chronological order, which made them a little easier to understand. When Kakashi told him that it was her diary, he had been expecting something closer to a narrative, or at least full sentences, but in that he was left largely wanting as he read through gigantic lists of descriptors, impressions, and the like. He could tell she just wrote whatever came into her mind because of the almost excessively free-form nature of the documents. After a while, he even began to speculate that sometimes, she only wrote a single word before putting the paper back.

He was pleased at first to find that although her style took a little getting used to, he didn't feel like he was really learning anything new about how she felt about him. He always felt that she had been an open book to him from the very start and it was nice to have that feeling affirmed.

His comfort, however, was reigned in as he continued to read over a large steaming bowl of chicken and rice. He didn't exactly want to explore her psyche in a public place but he hadn't eaten since the last time they had shared a meal together, something he only realized as he was on his way out of town and the tangy scent of sweet and sour sauce made his stomach growl. Since it was sort of an out of the way place, with small tables set back from the street, he gave in.

Gaara was only finished with his reading for a few minutes before his thoughts were disturbed by someone joining him without warning or invitation. "You," he narrowed his gaze across the table at the large old man with messy white hair now seated across from him. "What do you want?"

Jiraiya studied the young sand ninja for a moment. "You look like hell, son," he mused after a moment.

"I'm not your son," Gaara grumbled.

"But you still look like hell. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. If you've seen Calixta since you got here, I'm sure you'd find her in a similar state of disrepair," the older man commented.

"I am in far better shape than she is," he snapped petulantly.

"If you say so," he shrugged. "What's all this?" he motioned to the face down stack of papers sitting to Gaara's left under a large rock.

"None of your concern," Gaara dismissed. "Why are you bothering me?"

"I'm wondering why you're here…and to be honest I'm not the only one. Kakashi is still all bent out of shape about it."

"He should have minded his own business," the teen curtly replied.

"In case you aren't aware, she is very much his business. He is her sensei and I'm not sure what that means to you but they take that relationship very seriously, as does everyone here," Jiraiya informed.

"I am aware of their relationship, thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm sort of busy," he tried to get the older man to leave but to no avail.

"You weren't doing anything when I happened upon you. Tell me, does your sensei know you're here?" he tried.

"It's not a good day for fishing, old man," Gaara evaded.

"Then I just want to tell you about something. I'm not sure what you know about what Calixta really needs," he began carefully.

"I am very aware of her _needs_," the teen snapped.

"But on what level? I'm not saying that you weren't properly providing for her, but I just want to make sure you realize it."

Gaara simply grumbled and sat back in his chair, hoping the older man wouldn't talk for very long. He had a lot on his mind and being pestered like this wasn't helping him think.

"I'm sure you're aware by now that exclusivity between the two of you on a physical level is all but impossible," he paused a moment for the younger man to nod. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised you were okay with that."

"She was like that before she got to me. It wasn't my place to try to change that," he explained.

Jiraiya was impressed with the maturity of the tyrannical young man's outlook. "Whatever the case may be, she believes it is possible for her to be exclusive to you on some sort of emotional or spiritual level."

Gaara frowned because he wasn't exactly sure what the older man was getting at. The driving force behind her sexuality was a need for the emotional heights it provided.

"She only shares certain feelings with others, the ones she knows they will accept, which as you can probably imagine, severely limits her options. She needs someone she can share everything with, someone strong enough to take on the pains of her soul as well as the pleasures. Not everyone is strong enough to do that. She told me once, and I think she's right in this, that she'd be lucky to meet someone like that once in a lifetime."

The teen gave the older man a skeptical look across the small table between them.

"If I was a few years younger, I could have been one of those people," he informed flatly.

Gaara sneered. "A few years?" he scoffed. "Try a few decades, grandpa!"

Jiraiya shook his head in exasperation., knowing that his younger self would not have been up to what he was suggesting. "_But_ even if I was, I would have seriously considered letting you have her."

"What's your angle, old man? I don't have all god damn night," Gaara finally snapped.

"I just want to make sure you're aware that you were probably the only person who could ever really make her happy."

"And you're too ancient to do it," Gaara jibed, but mostly because he was extremely uncomfortable.

"I thought you were aware that you are most likely in the same boat," Jiraiya chided.

"You're wasting your time," the sand ninja finally grumbled.

"Oh? You're leaving?" Jiraiya asked hopefully.

"I have things to do," he stood and gathered his stack of papers.

"Think about what I said," the old master called after him.

"I don't have to," Gaara snapped over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving the intrusive older man to wonder if he had gotten through to him.

He went straight to Calixta's, stashing the stack of papers under her porch. Then, he entered her house without so much as a knock of warning, eliciting a shriek of surprise from her in the process.

"You made a deal with Shukaku?" Gaara demanded when he first saw her.

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you that," she grumbled.

"Just when I think you might show a tiny glimmer of sanity, something like this happens! Why didn't _you _tell me?" he continued to demand.

"I might have if I thought you would have listened to me," she countered willfully.

"If he ever sees you again, he'll kill you!" he threatened.

"Not necessarily. In fact, I bet if you nodded off right now, he'd shower me with kisses," she tried to brag.

"Yeah, then he'd fuck you up so bad no one would recognize your corpse," he hissed.

"Then it really would be over, wouldn't it?" she sneered. "But no, I don't think that's what would happen."

"Okay, if you're so smart, what would happen?"

She gave him a challenging look. "What course of action has Shukaku been pushing you toward?"

Gaara frowned and looked away. "He wants…" Even though he didn't have to consult Shukaku on the matter, the demon felt the desire to make his opinions on the matter known once again. "He wants us to pick back up where we left off," he managed bitterly.

She nodded. "Okay. Now, with that in mind, I think he would probably take the first steps of that for you. He seems to have an even worse habit of forcing the issue than I do."

The voice inside Gaara's head gave a low chuckle, "Smart cookie."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the teen scowled.

"He would give back my chakra whether I took it willingly or not. I would have to fight him…because I want you to do it and on terms we can both agree on. It would be unpleasant for both of us, to say the least, for it to happen otherwise," she tried to explain. He was about to speak again but she didn't notice and continued, "The really hard part would be how difficult it would be to resist giving in after I could start to feel his desire again."

"Stop it! Stop babbling! This isn't getting us anywhere!" Gaara suddenly interrupted.

"You asked," she shrugged.

"Why would you even make a deal like that," he backtracked their conversation a bit.

"Are you kidding? I needed a way to prove to him that he could trust me and he wasn't going to give me the opportunity to do that on his own. It was a good move, whether you want to admit it or not," she indignantly informed.

"I'm getting the impression that you've changed your mind," Gaara noted.

"Is that what you're trying to do?" she countered. "You want to badger me until I really don't like you?"

"Is it working?" he proposed.

"You're avoiding the issue," she accused.

"Okay, you want the real question? Why didn't you say something to me about your deal, if it was so good? Don't you think it would have been an even better move to tell me so that I would have a reason to keep you around?"

"Why don't you just go? If you don't want me, leave! I don't even know why you're here in the first place," she tried not to sob. "Is it to rub salt in the wound or was there something you wanted to say. If you're here to give that damn necklace back, don't bother. I still don't want it anymore."

Gaara had the jewelry in his pocket but he wasn't about to reveal that just yet. However, that didn't stop him from toying with it in secret.

"Besides, I don't want your obligation!" she suddenly screamed.

"Then why make that kind of deal in the first place?"

"In addition to prolonging my life or at least minimizing the physical damage, I wanted to see Shukaku again!" she asserted. "I told him I would try to do that because it was what I already wanted to do. I'm sure after all your reading, you've realized that it wasn't exactly an accident that he got out."

That admission made him realize that, at least in some capacity, she had been manipulating him, which at this point was only fair after everything that happened.

"You were with me because you wanted to be, because we each gained something significant from the experiences we shared. Everyone else that I've been with since I originally came to this village, everyone felt some sense of obligation toward me once they found what it meant for me," she confessed. "If you felt like you _had_ to be with me for any other reason than that you wanted to, what we had wouldn't be as wonderful, as beautiful. Though…I would be a liar if I said that even with all that, if you took me back out of a sense of obligation, I would still go with you."

Gaara shook his head in exasperation. "Even after all the mean words you said to me earlier. Even though you think I'm selfish and self-righteous?"

"Not you, just some of the things you did," she clarified and then, with a sigh, added, "But we did have some good times, didn't we?"

He barely stopped himself from smiling nostalgically. "While it lasted," he bitterly agreed.

She nodded and looked down at her lap. "W-We never got a good bye kiss you know," she proposed hopefully.

He gave her a coy little smile. "Yeah, okay," he agreed and started to crawl over to her. He watched with delight as a blush rose to her cheeks.

Calixta could feel her heart racing but didn't falter as they pressed their lips together. It was a soft, tentative gesture that only lasted a moment before there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she barely called and Kakashi entered, obviously startled at what he saw.

"What's going on here?" he questioned seriously when he saw the tears standing in Calixta's eyes.

"Gaara-san was just saying good bye. We didn't exactly get to before," she mused.

"I see," the older man stood impatiently next to the open door, hoping Gaara would take the hint.

It was obvious that both of them expected him to leave so, he found his way to his feet and started for the open door but stopped halfway to look over his shoulder to see that Calixta was standing to help show him to the door. The resigned but good natured smile she wore made his heart flutter and he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Calixta," he began suddenly, taking one of her hands in his.

"Gaara-san," she gasped.

Neither of them noticed Kakashi standing a few feet away practically chomping at the bit to tear them apart.

"Take me back, please," he pleaded quietly into her ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to ripple over her skin.

She gasped again and looked into his eyes. They were bloodshot and the dark circles around them had come back at full force but there was still a sparkle somewhere behind the weary haze that almost made her heart stop. Without thinking, she suddenly took his cheek in her off hand and kissed him.

Kakashi stared in shock at the pair as they embraced, her hand moving from his cheek to lace in his hair while his other hand slipped over her hip to rest on the small of her back. He sighed. He might have been able to stop them before but now he knew it would not be so easy. This unease was compounded by the feeling that he wasn't sure he wanted them to stop. If he had heard Gaara's quiet plea correctly, then he might not want to interfere.

Either way, he was pulled from his train of thought when he heard Calixta give a little whimper. He watched her cling to him as she stumbled forward, closing the distance between their bodies. Then, a moment later, they both fell to their knees. Luckily, it was a controlled descent, mostly thanks to Gaara.

"Ah, Gaara-san," she gasped when her knees hit the ground. "What changed your mind? Don't tell me it was those stupid papers," she scoffed breathily.

He squeezed her hand a little harder and nuzzled her neck, since she was no longer kissing him. "I needed time to think about what happened," he replied distractedly. "But I came here hoping we could work this out," he confessed.

She gasped again. "Then why didn't you-?" she wasn't allow to finish her question.

"Because I got distracted. I hope you can forgive me," he prayed.

"And my deal with Shukaku?" she asked with baited breath.

Gaara felt his stomach turn just a touch as he swallowed hard, "I still don't like it…but I trust you."

She couldn't speak for a long while after that so ended up reinitiating their kiss instead.

As Kakashi watched them, he felt compelled to leave because what they were experiencing seemed like such an intensely private moment. However, he was still worried and more than a little curious as to the outcome of this sudden turn of events. So, he was left to silently observe them as he carefully closed the front door.

When their kiss broke again, they were both breathing deeply and heavily. Without any sort of cue, they brought their other hands together. They were both practically trembling.

"You know I'm all for this but I don't know if I'll survive a heartbreak like that again. Please, just promise me you're serious," she pleaded.

"I promise," he agreed seriously.

"Oh, Gaara," she almost moaned, digging her fingers into the backs of his hands. This outburst earned her a little gasp of astonishment from the man still only a few feet away. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei," she tried to turn and focus her attention on him but it was extremely difficult. "Please don't be angry."

That last bit took Kakashi aback because he knew what it meant. He didn't really think he was angry or even if he was, it was more out of a sense of prolonged confusion than anything else. Regardless, she knew the feeling was there. "I-I should go," he finally admitted, doing so aloud for further motivation to actually commit it to action.

Gaara gave a protective little growl that refocused her attention on him and when the older man started to leave, he spoke distractedly to him, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

When he would had the opportunity to consider the evening in retrospect, Kakashi realized that one of the most surprising elements, at least for him, was the genuinely honest thanks from Gaara. It was what made him feel good about leaving them alone together. However, it didn't stop him from wandering listlessly about the streets.

When the door clicked shut, Gaara and Calixta's lips met again and he was able to return much of the energy stored in him, which left them both dizzy and gasping.

"Oh my god," she marveled, he eyes wandering around the room and over him.

"What is it?" he pressed.

She gave an almost foolish giggle. "Everything is so beautiful!" she awed. "I feel like I'm part of the world again."

He found himself laughing with her sympathetically before reinitiating their kiss once again but this time, once their lips met, he started to lean backward, pulling her down on top of him. They parted again when their embrace became too dizzying.

"We should slow down," she regretfully informed as she gasped for air above him.

"But I want you back now; I can't wait any longer, " he pouted petulantly.

"I know…but taking so much from you so quickly, especially since you haven't had much time to recover, might leave you a bit exhausted. I know I said I want to see Shukaku again but I don't think either of us is ready for it to happen again so soon," she playfully informed.

Gaara frowned. He had been enjoying their rather intense exchange and craved more of the same. However, he knew she was right, and backed off. To signal his willingness to trust her judgment, he laid back on the floor and folded his hand behind his head, looking up at her with a smirk of admiration. "So, I'm willing to respect your privacy if you tell me what's up with that trunk Kakashi wouldn't let you burn," he proposed.

She gave a little smile. "Okay, but only if I can have back what I gave you earlier. You've had plenty of time to go over it."

"Fair enough," he agreed. "They're under the porch."

"The beauty of the world overwhelms me at times. I found, that getting it out on paper made it easier to deal with," she bit her lip. "Over time, it sort of became a compulsion. I mostly write about people, because they are the most vibrant but occasionally another sort of creature or thing catches my attention," she confessed.

Gaara just smiled upward at her. He could hardly fathom such a problem since most of his life, all he could see in the world, especially its people, was how painfully ugly it all was. But then again, he always knew she was different.

"You, sir," she almost slurred, "are especially vibrant. I don't know if you realize that," she informed.

"Oh yeah?" he prompted, resting his hands on her hips and playing with the bottom of her blouse.

"Oh yes," she nearly raved. "So many intense colors…and you feel so intensely. You hardly show it, I know, but I think that makes your emotions even more intense. And then…it's like your chakra makes sympathetic vibrations with mine. Sometimes, it almost tickles," she giggled foolishly.

At this point, Gaara had decided that she was absolutely mad and that he loved her dearly for it.

"Then, there's Shukaku," she added with a wild look in her eyes that made Gaara's heart skip a beat.

"What about'im?" Gaara almost snapped.

"Don't get testy," she chided, tapping the end of his nose with the tip of her index finger. "I couldn't ignore him even if I wanted to. He exists almost as intensely as you do, quelled only by the fact that you force him to be subordinate to you. He makes your aura very dark sometimes, but not always in a bad way. For me, he exists as a strong undercurrent in your chakra. I can feel him teasing me sometimes. That's how I knew he wanted to meet face to face. Tell me what you thought of my scribblings," she suddenly requested.

Gaara faltered slightly at the sudden request. "I found them…enlightening," he managed. "I was very flattered, to say the least," he almost laughed. "And it was nice to get the full story about what happened that night. Shukaku failed to mention several fairly important items."

"I'm glad you weren't as disappointed as I expected."

"I don't understand how someone could be disappointed with what they saw about themselves," he finally pressed.

"Well, there are two reasons. The first is that many people want…a more well rounded interpretation. They want a reason to get mad, basically," she shrugged. "And then there's the fact that I can't help thinking how empty the words look on cold paper like that. Words are so subjective sometimes and even though most of what is read seems pretty straightforward, they still feel like they're lacking compared to how I feel."

Gaara nodded with understanding.

"But you don't need to worry about that anymore. Now, if you desire, you can know exactly how I feel. We won't need words for it," she almost bragged.

Just the idea almost overwhelmed him, "Uh, let's just stick to you and me for now, okay?" she almost laughed.

"Of course," she grinned and started to undress him. "I was so lonely," she confessed once his shirt was nearly off.

"I know, I'm sorry," he frowned.

"No, please. If I'm not allow to say I'm sorry to you then you're not allowed to say it to me either, got it?" she playfully scolded. "Besides, it only reinforced my conviction about how deeply I care for you."

Gaara returned her playful grin with one of his own and started to pull her shirt down off her shoulders but it quickly faded when he looked over her shoulder to see the bite mark on her shoulder and then, further down, the scratch marks across her back. "I-I thought you didn't scar."

"Oh…" she had a slight flash of regret but quickly pushed it aside, "A little gift left over from my time with Shukaku. Since I didn't have my chakra at the time, I wasn't able to fully heal," she explained.

"I see…" he also tried to push it aside, even though those were the only scars that marred her perfect skin. "I trust you've been in good hands while we were parted," he asked hopefully as his hand found her breast. To his disappointment, it didn't quite feel as he thought it should. He expected them to be full but they felt rather empty.

"Actually…I've hardly felt the touch of another since we parted," she bitterly assured.

"Oh?" he quirked a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah. I tried…because I wanted to see what it would be like…but it was all so empty that I could hardly go through with even the smallest embrace. I even tried to entertain myself but that didn't work either," she complained.

"That's interesting. I'm sure your many lovers were disappointed," he chided.

She gave him a strangely challenging look down at him. "Don't pretend like you care about any of them," she dismissed.

"What makes you so sure I don't? You know I can tell who you're close to. I might have a thing or two to say at your taste," he suggested haughtily.

She smirked. "I would accept your guidance," she conceded because she thought it would be, at the very least, interesting.

"That's good to know," he chuckled.

"But like you said, right now it's just you and me." She started to work on his pants.

"So eager already," he teased.

"Oh, I didn't realize you want to move slowly," she chided.

"Actually, I'm just curious. You don't seem to have any milk for me anymore," he finally revealed his disappointment.

She sank a little at that. "Yeah, I saw no reason to continue trying to produce it when it wasn't helping anybody anymore," she sighed.

"I understand," he nodded.

"But…" she smiled," it was started because they received so much attention. I'm sure it wouldn't take much to restart the process," she winked and he immediately sat up, pulled her shirt down her arms and got to work.

"Now who's eager?" she teased.

He didn't respond, he was too busy deciding that he would pay her breasts as much attention as possible until her healing spring returned, reveling in the way she squirmed in his lap and the adorable little sounds she made.

The more he touched her, the more she felt her power returning to her. Before long, they were no longer experiencing just the passive effects of her chakra. He almost gasped when she first asserted her power over him. She was absolutely giddy and that feeling only served to egg him on.

Just as he was starting to think he was making progress, he thought he tasted the first drops of milk on his tongue, she started to pull him away.

"Gaara," she pleaded, taking his cheeks in her hands and trying to guide him upward but he petulantly fought her. "Gaara, please, kiss me," she pleaded when her nipple finally popped from his lips.

When he saw the look in her eyes, he didn't think, only complied. When their lips met again, he felt an incredible rush. She was actively drawing out the rest of her chakra, rather than taking it as he offered as she had in the beginning. When he broke the kiss to gasp a moment later, she continued to hold his face close to hers.

"Don't forget to breathe," she half-teased before pressing her lips against his once more.

Her forcefulness made him falter but her confidence quickly fixed that. Before long, she was once again squirming and squealing in his lap. All the while, one of his hands rested on the small of her back, to steady her, and the other massaged her breasts. When she was about three quarters of the way restored, she let their kiss end. By that point, Gaara was barely kissing back. It wasn't that his actions lacked conviction, it was just so overwhelming to have her power drawn out of him so suddenly just as his body was starting to think it could actually assimilate the energy.

Seeing how dazed she left him, she laid him down, resting her head on his chest and letting one hand toy with his partially exposed erection.

"You are absolutely unbelievable, leading me on like that. Why did you wait so long to do this if it's the reason you came here?" she playfully demanded.

For a moment, Gaara could only grit his teeth to bite back a moan of pleasure at her fondling him so expertly. "What you were doing when I approached…it made me curious," he admitted.

She nodded with understanding. "I missed you so much," she kissed his chest.

He grinned a bit because the gesture tickled. "I know. I missed you too," he admitted with a sigh of contentment. Then, he sighed again, but this time it sounded a little more thoughtful. "I almost wish I'd waited to give back your power. I was curious to see what kind of lover you would be without it," he admitted.

She gave a sad little smile upward. "I'm not sure how fulfilling it would be but perhaps we could explore that another time," she suggested.

He couldn't believe she was so casual about the suggestion and just ended up nodding in response. Then, because she sensed they were done talking, she leaned up a bit and started to tease his nipple with her tongue. He gave a little jerk of surprise before rolling her onto her back so he could start playing with her breasts again. It didn't take as long this time for him to receive another few drops of milk but found, once again, that was all she had to give. Not that it mattered, he knew that her supply was dependent on the demand she received.

She knew what he was after and his determination and desire made her breasts tingle. She knew it wouldn't be long before he was rewarded at the pace he was going. He withdrew sooner than she expected but it was only to roll them back over so that she was on top of him. Once there, they finished undressing and before Gaara's mouth could find her breasts again, she leaned down and kissed him.

Just as Gaara was about to position himself at her entrance, he could feel her drawing the rest of her chakra back into her. It made his eyes roll and his body arch almost painfully because that was the portion that he had managed to assimilate into his own. Because of this, she ended up taking a fair portion of his chakra with it. It made him light headed as he kneaded her hips fitfully.

"Aaah!" she breathed when she was finished, tossing her head back and sitting up, straddling his hips. "Oh, Ai-sama…" her head thrashed from side to side, further mussing her already messy hair.

"Cali…-sama…" Gaara groaned, barely aware of what he was saying. Then, even if he did have a chance of recovering, she started her descent on his shaft. They were both practically trembling already so she didn't immediately rise up again for another thrust. Rather, she let her hips rest on his and rolled them against one another, creating an intoxicating stirring sensation inside her. "Oh, Cali…it's not fair…" he groaned after a moment.

She considered stopping but sensed that he didn't want her to. "What's the matter sweetie?" she asked sweetly, gently running the back of her hand along his jaw.

"It's all so much at once," he moaned. "How can you stand it?"

"It does take some getting used to," she admitted breathily. "Once I get my equilibrium closer to normal, it won't be as bad."

He nodded and bit his lip. "I don't care…I want everything you are," he finally admitted.

At that, they both felt an immense warmth well up inside them. Calixta barely held back her tears of joy but the emotions behind them were so intense that one of them had to give into them. Suddenly, Gaara felt stinging tears welling up in his eyes.

"Agh," he brought an arm up to wipe them away.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she almost laughed with even greater joy at the show of his empathy toward her but at the same time, she was giving into the tear-jerking emotions so he wouldn't have to. So, he was allowed her laughter instead, much to his awing bliss.

The torrent of emotions left Gaara extremely off balance so to compensate, Calixta returned some of his chakra that she had managed to filter out of her own. That managed to give back some of his vigor and his hands returned to her hips, encouraging her to continue their thrusts. She happily obliged.

As they rushed toward orgasm, Gaara couldn't help awing up at her. Her hair was still a disheveled mess and there were dark circles under her eyes from stress and lack of sleep, but those were quickly fading. Her eyes were sparkling in the dim light of her living room and for a moment, he could swear her skin was glowing the most intense, throbbing purple that he had ever seen. She looked like a goddess to him, something not of the earth. Or perhaps she was too close to her earthy roots, like the nymphs, whose natures frequently quashed any sort of civilized sensibility.

When he was so close to cumming that he could hardly see, he sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Cali-sama, I love you!" he cried into her shoulder, more tears stinging his eyes but this time he knew they were his own.

"Ai-sama," she cried back as she came again. "Never cut yourself off from me again, no matter what!"

"Never again," he vowed before words were lost to him again and he found himself cumming inside her a minute later. After a few moments of euphoria, Gaara laid back down, taking Calixta with him to lay down on top of him.

"Now what?" she asked him seriously after they had a chance to catch their breath and make sure all their chakra was in the right places.

Gaara chuckled, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Well, I have quite a few things I need to set straight again now…but that will wait until tomorrow. I don't have the head for it at the moment," she giggled.

He nodded.

"Perhaps we could go out to dinner. Letting others see us together will do much of the explaining for us," she pointed out.

He nodded again. "That's fine…but I was thinking more in general. I want this to work and you seem to think you have a pretty good idea how we can do that so I want to hear it. Yeah, I get a lot from you. A lot of it I don't really understand," he admitted with a grumble. "But don't assume I know everything. I'll let you know if you're telling me something I already know," he assured.

She smiled up at him. "That sounds perfectly fair. Though, you should know I'm sort of making this up as we go along so feel free to make suggestions," she teased. "But seriously, I know this is a huge commitment but we both have almost equally large commitments in our lives already. Whether I like it or not, I have to finish my service here before I can really do much else."

"How long will that be?" he questioned curiously.

"Another year or so, depending on what they have me doing," she shrugged.

"Then what?" he pressed.

"I dunno. I haven't really thought about it. I sort of like the idea of being a free agent after being tied down for so long…but this commitment doesn't sound nearly as bad," she giggled again. "Perhaps I'll go see what you're doing at the time," she winked.

He laughed at her facetiousness. "That sounds promising. I don't think I'll be going anywhere so I'll be waiting for you," he warned. "What about your deal with Shukaku?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping to see you here and there in the meantime. It would be terribly depressing to have to spend all that time without you. I was thinking that perhaps I could return for the next monsoon festival. By then, I think we'll have enough time to think about everything and it almost seems appropriate that we do it then."

"When it rains, it pours," Gaara grumbled. "Okay. Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," she kissed his chest. Then, she got up, intending to get dressed.

"There is one more thing, actually," he told her once his pants were on.

"What's that?" she eagerly prompted.

"Wear this again," he pulled the necklace out of his pocket.

"I thought it was broken…" she awed as he drew closer.

He smiled. "I fixed the chain but the gem is still cracked. We can get you a new one if you like," he offered.

"Not at all. I think it's more charming this way. Please, help me get it on. I have the most terrible time with those little clasps," she turned around and he obliged.

"Oh, Gaara, you may not want to hear this but I don't think I ever really appreciated my perspective on the world until it was so suddenly shifted and I have you to thank for that," she admitted as they walked to dinner. "The colors almost seem more vibrant than before," she raved.

He had never seen her so giddy. She didn't even seem to notice the looks of incredulity they were receiving as they walked. "Uh, Calixta," he began carefully as they turned a corner.

"What is it?" she asked merrily.

"Every once in a while, I see these strange colors around things," he told her, trying not to sound like he was complaining. He already figured it was her fault but since she was mentioning it, he wanted to say something.

She gave a guilty little smile. "I see those kinds of colors all the time. If you don't like it, the effect will probably wear off before too long. I can't say whether or not you'd be able to hold on to it," she theorized. "What do you see?" she finally gave into her curiosity.

"Mostly reds, some orange…occasionally green or blue," he managed, making vague motions to people as they passed.

She nodded. "That's what I see too," she affirmed, even though she felt that perhaps it wasn't exactly the same.

"Have you noticed any other changes?" she asked almost hopefully.

He thought for a moment. Even though it felt as though the world was practically vibrating at some moments, he thought that he was still reeling from their last chakra exchange and figured it was just part of that. "Not that I've noticed so far," he shrugged.

She nodded and led him into a restaurant. "You know, one of these times, I'm going to have to cook for you. It seems that every time we're together, we go out to eat," she mused as they were shown to their table.

"That's because we're always too busy for nonsense like that," he dismissed even though part of him craved her cooking.

She giggled and sat down. She didn't even bother with menus, ordering for them from memory to save time.

As they sat, Gaara couldn't help looking around nervously, as though he felt someone watching them.

"What's the matter? You've hardly sat still since we got here," she pointed out.

"I keep expecting someone to say something to us. I mean, they've done plenty of staring," he grumbled.

She gave a gentle smile that won back his attention at least for a moment. "They will respond in their own time. I think they just want to make sure they know what they're seeing," she reasoned.

As they ate, he realized it wasn't just the staring that was making him so paranoid. "I don't know how you can stand it," he sighed, setting down his chopsticks.

"What's that?" she blinked curiously.

"It's like I can sense everyone in this room…It's like trying to listen to one person talking in a crowd of people," he complained.

She reached over and took his now free hand in her own. "I know. It does take some getting used to but as I said, I think the only reason you're sharing in that right now is because of the recent exchange. It'll probably wear off after a while if that's what you want."

Gaara frowned. "I don't know if I want it to stop. It's just a lot at once. How do you deal with it?" he asked curiously.

"Well…I don't know really. It didn't hit me all at once. For me, it was a gradual process. At first, it was only people who were close to me. That's why that aspect is still the most difficult for me to control. So, I should probably warn you that if you can sense others then they are probably more aware of you." She looked around and was pleased that did not seem to be the case. "I suggest, however, that it helps to find a focal point. One thing or person to focus your attention on, to use to block out the rest of the noise."

He nodded and tried that. It made sense and it seemed to help a great deal. Of course, he chose to focus on her, much to her delight. The rest of their meal was uneventful and they left shortly after.

"What about Baki?" she asked when she suddenly remembered him.

"What about him?" Gaara scoffed.

"Well, you know, I was just wondering about his role in all this," she mused.

"Ah, well, I didn't exactly ask him if I could come here, which is probably what will bother him the most, but I did leave him a note so that should work in my favor. More than anything, I think he'll just be really annoyed. If he and I agree on one thing it's that we both hate drama. I understand now that it had to be worked through for this to work but I'm not sure he'll feel the same way. But…as long as I don't make any waves for a while, he should calm down pretty quickly," he replied thoughtfully.

She nodded. "I know he doesn't really like me, not that he tries to hide it, so I'll try to do the same," she vowed.

Just then, someone appeared in front of them on the busy street. It was Jiraiya.

"Ugh," Gaara grumbled when he saw the old man. "Not him again."

Calixta quirked a curious eyebrow but wasn't allowed to ask what that meant because the white-haired man noticed them and was making his way through the crowd toward them.

"Can we just go? There's enough people here, I bet we could lose him pretty quickly," Gaara tried.

"It won't take long. He's already drunk," she noted. "And I know how to send him away without making him feel bad about it."

"Ah! Cali-chan! Gaara-kun!" he merrily greeted, throwing an arm around each of them only to find that they were far too short for him to lean on.

"Good evening, Master Jiraiya," she greeted with a mock-shy smile and a slight bow.

"I see Gaara found you. I'm happy to see that you've resolved your differences," he informed haughtily.

Gaara almost smiled but didn't say anything.

"Yes, we've managed to work things out. Actually," she put a hand up as though she was telling him a secret, even though she was speaking loud enough for anyone to hear. "We were just on our way back to my place after a celebration dinner," she informed with a wink.

Jiraiya laughed heartily and gave Gaara a too-enthusiastic pat on the back, making the small young man stumble forward with surprise. "Give'er hell, son," he winked and stumbled off.

"I'm not your son!" Gaara called after him angrily when he regained his footing.

Calixta simply giggled, took his arm, and brought him home. On their way he realized that, even though he wasn't trying to encourage or discourage the strange experiences he was having because of her, the effects over him seemed to be fading already. By morning, they would surely be gone.


	21. Separation

Gaara wasn't allowed to completely recover from the more interesting effects of Calixta's chakra before there was a confrontation. Around three o'clock that morning, Calixta started awake to the sound of Satu yapping at noisy footsteps on her porch, followed by angry knocking on her door.

"Open up!" Baki demanded as he knocked. He only waited a second before forcing his way in. "Gaara! Calixta!" he called as he burst into her dark living room.

Calixta emerged a moment later in a loose bathrobe. "Baki-sensei…what a surprise," she grumbled. "And here I thought it was something important."

"Where's Gaara?" he demanded.

She looked around and gave a quick listen, "He's not here," she replied sleepily.

"Then where is he?" he stormed up to her, hoping to intimidate her but it failed, his first indication that Gaara had returned her power.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I was sleeping. It's pretty boring around here at this time of night so he probably went for a walk or something," she suggested.

With that, Baki stormed out, cursing her the entire way. Calixta rolled her eyes and followed a few feet behind. "Why are you following me?" he snapped over his shoulder when they reached the end of her walkway.

"Don't you want help finding Gaara? I don't know if he's told you this but I have sort of a knack for finding people," she bragged.

He didn't really want her help but if she was willing to give it, he thought it would make his life easier. "Lead the way," he motioned and was rewarded by finding his run away student minutes later.

"Gaara-san," she called sweetly through the darkness as they approached.

He had felt her approach but was too caught up in sensing her to notice his furious sensei, which made him falter slightly when he looked over his shoulder to ask her if she slept well and saw Baki quickly approaching him. "Baki-sensei…" he barely gasped.

"We're leaving right now!" Baki informed.

"And if I refuse?" the teen defiantly proposed.

"Then I'll drag you out of here myself," he countered and to prove he was serious, he took Gaara by the collar.

Baki and Calixta had approached so quickly that neither of them really realized that Gaara was still experiencing some of the more noticeable effects of Calixta's chakra. He could still see the auras of those around him, not that very many people were out that late, so individuals with strong auras stood out to him like flares in the night. Baki was no exception. Now that Gaara was aware of his sensei, and how completely absorbed he could become with his lover, the older man's presence seemed oppressive. It almost made it hard for him to breathe. "B-Baki-sens-" he barely managed.

His student's unusual response made Baki take a moment to really look at Gaara. He appeared slightly dazed and his muscles weren't as tense as they should have been given the situation. "What did you do to him this time?" Baki demanded over his shoulder.

"Hm?" Calixta distractedly asked from a few feet away. She was distracted by trying to help non-verbally coach Gaara from his anxiety. He was obviously annoyed with her lack of response but she couldn't bring herself to care. In fact, she found herself annoyed that Baki was still holding on to Gaara's shirt the way he was, only a few centimeters from lifting the young man off the ground. She was also feeling especially defensive because of how lethargic Gaara appeared. The combination made her take action a moment later.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Calixta struck Baki's hand, forcing him to release her lover. Then, before either of them could say anything, she turned to Gaara. "Ai-sama," she began quietly, forcing eye contact. "You should go with Baki-sensei," she requested.

"What? Why? I just got here," he protested childishly.

"I know," she smiled gently, taking his hand and pulling him close. "But you've done what you came here to do. Exiting now won't change that," she assured but then shot a rude look over her shoulder, "however unpleasant it might be." Then, she turned back to Gaara, giving him a sweet little kiss on the red tattoo on his forehead. "I will see you again. Not even this man can stop us," she promised. She was just about to step away when Baki shoved her out of the way so she simply stepped a few feet to the side, almost where she had been standing before.

"Get away from him!" he ordered forcefully.

"Getting more angry isn't going to help anything," Calixta lectured.

"Don't speak to me," Baki snapped, not even looking at her.

"Don't talk to her like that," Gaara's rage finally crashed through the surface of Calixta's chakra that he had been letting himself swim in. He took a forceful step forward and let himself take up a more threatening posture.

"I am your sensei and you will obey me!" Baki asserted. "And if you don't start marching back to our village right now, I will take you and Temari and Kankuro off my team," he threatened.

"You wouldn't!" Calixta gasped.

"That's not fair! They don't have anything to do with it. They didn't even know I was leaving," Gaara argued.

"I know they've been encouraging you behind my back," Baki snapped.

Now Gaara was furious as well and being in the presence of so much anger wasn't something that Calixta was accustomed to anymore. It gave her a familiar old rush that made her body move much faster than her mind. Again, she moved between them but this time she was facing Baki.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "Don't do this! Please!"

"Get out of the way," he tried to push her again but this time she didn't budge.

"No! You're the obstruction! How dare you threaten Temari and Kankuro just to control our relationship!" Then, she laughed incredulously, almost maniacally.

Gaara wanted to act but found himself too stunned by Calixta's outburst to react as quickly as he would have liked.

"Don't you have even a shred of decency?" she raved. "Not that I should expect you to understand. You disliked me even before you knew who I was and the only reason you give a damn about Gaara is to keep him under control!" she accused as she dared to draw closer. "You never trusted either of us even an inch; the thought hadn't even occurred to you!"

Baki was obviously startled as well by the small woman's sudden outburst. "You haven't given me a reason to trust you," he countered as he tried not to take a step back.

Calixta's rage grew as she unconsciously started to channel Gaara's frustrations as well.

"You never looked for a reason and even if there was one, you wouldn't see it! You're too blind to what's happening right before your eyes. You might as well cover up both of them if you're not going to use'em!" she taunted, drawing dangerously close to him. "Why do you want us to fail so badly?" she almost pleaded.

"I don't have to want you to fail. You're relationship was doomed from the very start," Baki assuredly replied. "Gaara had it right before. You're lucky you had what you did."

Gaara faltered at having his own words used against them.

"Don't gimme that shit!" she finally closed the distance between them only to violently shove him backward, surprising the older man with her show of physical strength.

He had sort of been waiting for her to physically lash out at him to give him an excuse to put her in her place. He thought this might be his chance. However, just as he stumbled backward, but before he could manage to initiate his own violent contact, Kakashi walked out of one of the darker alleys nearby.

"I think that's enough," Kakashi informed sternly.

"Good, you're here. You can tell this wench to back off so I can take my student back. God only knows what kind of damage she's caused this time," Baki greeted, his tone curt and snarky.

"Don't call her that!" Gaara finally shouted again, this time stealing some of his rage back from Calixta and using it to allow his chakra to flare dangerously.

Calixta sensed the sudden flare and, knowing he could cause more damage than she could without realizing it, she hurried over and hugged him tightly.

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation and approached. "What did I tell you about trying to keep them apart? I think this only proves my point."

"Kakashi-sensei," Calixta pleaded, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"And what did I tell you about apologizing?" he turned his mildly disgusted glare on his own student, practically clutching her lover for dear life.

"Of course," she bowed a little and turned back to Gaara. "Please, you should go with Baki now. Like I said, you will see me again. You can count on that," she assured.

Kakashi was impressed that she was so willing to let him go when he obviously didn't want to. "Baki, you should stay the night. It's only another few hours before the sun comes up. Then, you can go on your way. I can even arrange a meal for you if you'd like," he offered generously.

"No! Damn it. I won't be deterred or coerced or bribed into this. This," he pointed at the couple, "is wrong. There is nothing right about it. I should never have listened to you. You're almost as bad as she is," he scoffed. "No, I'm leaving now and Gaara's coming with me."

"Gaara can go but you're wrong," Calixta argued. "There's everything right about this and there's nothing you can do about it!" she taunted before turning back to Gaara and engaging him in a heated kiss.

The kiss would have lasted longer but with Baki screaming and Kakashi rudely clearing his throat, it was a little difficult to keep the moment.

"I-I can't believe you're letting me go so easily," Gaara whispered.

"Shh," she soothed, running her fingers through his hair.

"After all that…you can tell how badly I want to stay here with you, right?" he managed.

"I know. It's painful to suffer such an intense separation but I don't think we'll ever really be parted. Even with as far as you have to go, we'll still be connected," she almost teared up at the thought.

"Ah," Gaara gasped as a sudden warmth threatened to overwhelm him, almost completely quelling his rage. "Cali-…" he trailed off and kissed her again.

"Knock it off!" Baki finally yelled and forcibly pushed them apart.

That made Calixta incredibly angry, the most angry she'd been in a very long time. "Stop it! Just stop already!" she pushed him back and punched him in the jaw. "I sick and tired of your bullshit!" she kicked him.

"Ah, Calixta!" Kakashi rushed over and pulled her away, still kicking and screaming at him. Once he was sure he had a good grip on her, he turned to Baki. "If you're going, just go."

Baki nodded and motioned to Gaara, "Come on."

Gaara hesitated. He was so caught up in watching his lover in the final throes of her fury. He found that though seeing her so enraged disturbed him, she even looked beautiful like that.

Baki grumbled, "Come on!" he ordered, moving up behind his student and pushing him forward.

Crestfallen, Gaara finally did as he was ordered. Unfortunately, Calixta could feel his heartache and it only served to fuel her fury further. After a minute of struggle and watching them walk away, Calixta finally broke free of Kakashi's grapple and ran after them.

"Calixta! No! Come back!" he called as he chased after her, finding her much faster than he expected. Fortunately, Baki had decided to pick up their pace before that and Kakashi managed to tackle her to the ground before she caught up with them.

"Please…let me go…" she pleaded desperately.

"No. You said yourself that he could go, that he should go, so let him go," Kakashi advised.

A sudden anguish overcame her and she turned in Kakashi's grasp to face him. She wrapped her arms around him and started crying into his chest.

"Shh," he tried to soothe, "No matter what Baki wants I know you'll see Gaara again and probably before too long. You better just hope that he didn't get into too much trouble sneaking out to see you like he did."

"He wouldn't have to sneak around if it wasn't for that damned Baki!" she raved, pounding on his chest in frustration.

Kakashi found that, unlike the other day when she'd done the same thing, this time, she was nearly knocking the wind out of him so he had to take her hands in his to try to settle her. "He's just doing his job. He's been put in charge of Gaara and if something happens to him, then Baki will be held accountable," he reasoned.

"He doesn't have to be so cruel about it," she sobbed.

"That is his way. Don't you like to say that all things act according to their nature? Well, that is Baki's nature and it's something you're going to have to learn to deal with if you want to be with Gaara."

"Deal with? How can I deal with someone that there's no talking to?"

Kakashi almost smiled. "I'm sure you'll find a way. Actually, before that whole incident with Shukaku, I think you were starting to win him over. That was quite a set back but I believe you can make up for it. Just give it some time."

"I just wish he'd gone about it differently," she sighed.

"Well, you have to consider that he probably traveled non-stop to get here and that alone enough to try a person's patience."

"He came into my house without asking," she admitted, feeling almost as violated by that fact as she did about the separation.

"Looking for Gaara, I assume," he replied.

She simply nodded.

"I'll see what I can do about making sure that kind of thing doesn't happen again," Kakashi promised. "Here," he helped her stand, "I'll walk you home."

She gave a small nod of thanks and let him lead her to her house. The front door was still open because she had followed him in such a hurry, but Kakashi didn't bother to say anything about it.

"Good night, Calixta. Try to sleep well. I'll be by sometime tomorrow to see how you're doing," he told her.

She gave another weak nod and the whisper of a kiss across his cheek. "Thank you, Sensei."

* * *

"What the hell's gotten into you?" Baki demanded as they exited the village. "Wait. Don't answer that. Just tell me why. Why did you sneak out again?" he asked.

Finally, Gaara realized the assumption that his sensei was making. "Because I wanted to give back her power…and see if she still wanted me," he admitted.

"She called you here again, didn't she?"

Gaara laughed. "She didn't have any chakra to call me with. I came on my own because I wanted to."

"Then why didn't you at least let someone know where you were going or even that you were going?" he pressed.

"I left a note," he grumbled.

Baki seethed. "I don't want you to see her ever again," he informed.

"Well, that's just too bad," the teen defiantly replied. "I'm not going to let you stop us."

"You're what?" Baki's rage flared again.

Gaara, who was now growing accustomed to his sensei's rather violent chakra, tried not to snicker at how easy it was to read the older man's emotions. "You heard me. Most of the reason I'm following you right now is for Temari and Kankuro's sake. You know you couldn't have forced me to leave there without causing a lot of damage. Then who looks like the bad guy?"

Baki groaned. He already knew he looked like the bad guy. "I don't need you to tell me what it looks like," he snapped.

They argued like that for the rest of their trip home and when they returned, they were greeted by a very anxious pair of sand siblings. They were so anxious, in fact, that in spite of the fact that they had so much to say, they were speechless when their sensei and brother approached. Neither one looked at all pleased, though Gaara did seem a fraction more pleased that Baki.

Baki left them with curt orders before going about his business. He was still contemplating how to punish Gaara and sorely needed a good night's rest.

"What happened?" Temari asked as soon as Baki was gone.

Gaara didn't care to answer. He was too busy focusing his attention on her chakra. It felt so distant now but at the same time, comfortingly close. He was also over the majority of the interesting side effects of having some of his chakra basically processed through her body but a few still remained. Already mentioned was his ability to still sense her but he could still occasionally catch a glimpse of a person's aura, depending on what they were doing. This also meant that he could sense certain surface emotions of those around him, especially those closest to him, which happened to be Temari and Kanuro. He could sense their concern and anxiety.

"Don't worry," Gaara finally said to them when they took a break. They were all dirty and sweaty and terribly thirsty because Baki had assigned one of the dirtiest, grueling, menial tasks that young ninja had to perform.

"Huh?" Kankuro asked between gulps of water.

"I'm telling you two not to worry," he elaborated.

"Who said we were worried?" Kankuro haughtily countered.

Gaara smirked. "You didn't have to say anything," he muttered. "You were waiting at the village gate for us to return," he pointed out.

"So, everything's gunna be okay then?" Temari asked hopefully. "You two kissed and made up?"

Gaara's smirk grew a little at the kiss and make up part because that was a fairly accurate description of what had happened. "We did. I returned her power and we decided to try to stay together."

"That's great!" Temari gushed.

"If it's so great then why are we moving rocks?" Kankuro almost snapped.

Gaara's smile fell. "Because Baki greatly disapproves," he sighed.

"Well, that never stopped you before," Temari pointed out cheekily.

"Before he didn't try to drag other people into it," he muttered. It was obvious that he preferred their sensei's silent disapproval to what they were experience now.

"Who else got involved?" Kankuro questioned curiously.

Gaara shot a suspicious look at his siblings. "The two of you," he admitted and looked away.

"What? What do we have to do with it?" Temari demanded anxiously.

"He knows you sided with me…He threatened to dump all three of us if I didn't come back with him right away," he informed bitterly.

"He did what?" Kankuro was obviously furious.

"Why are you telling us this?" Temari asked after a second to let the information sink in.

"Because you should know how much of a bastard he's planning to be about this," Gaara replied, "especially if he's going to drag you into it."

"He wants to turn us against each other," Kankuro surmised. "That is a pretty bastard thing to do."

"It just means that he's really serious," Temari noted. "But you two are really together, like you're officially dating?" she wanted to verify.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Gaara mused with a nostalgic little grin.

"Does that mean she's going to stop seeing other people?" Temari asked hopefully.

Gaara shot his sister an incredulously look, "We didn't discuss it," he admitted offhandedly.

"Well, I assume she would," she shrugged, still anxious.

"I don't see why she would," Gaara countered.

"Because you're dating now!" she replied angrily.

Gaara shrugged. "What's it to me how she entertains herself while I'm away?"

"What do you mean, what's it to you? You don't care that she' off having sex with god only knows who? I don't know if you noticed but she has quite a few lovers," she pointed out.

He shrugged again. "It's just sex."

"It's not just sex and you know it," Kankuro interjected. "But I understand your decision."

"You're siding with him?" she demanded of her older brother. "Ugh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Temari, Calixta needs that kind of interaction to get by," he replied evenly.

She still didn't appear convinced.

"It's probably better that you're angry. It will win you points back with Baki," Gaara almost laughed.

"Actually…" Kankuro began distractedly, "It might be better to play it that way…at least until we see Calixta again."

"What are you getting at?" Temari snapped.

"Just that if Baki-sensei's going to play that way, then we can too. As long as you," he turned go Gaara for a moment, "can handle a little teasing, that is."

"What do you mean?" Gaara tried not to snap.

"I was just thinking that if Temari and I show Baki that we don't really like Calixta either that he'll ease up on all of us, especially if we give you a hard time about it."

"I thought you did like her," Gaara asked suspiciously.

"We do," Kankuro was quick to affirm but then shot an anxious look at their sister. "Well, I do anyway.

"Ugh, yeah, I guess I do too," Temari grumbled.

Gaara nodded in approval.

"But don't you agree that it might be easier on all of us if we did that instead, at least for a while?" Kankuro proposed.

"He'll catch on eventually and then we might be in even bigger trouble," Temari was quick to point out.

"I don't know about you but I can't think of many worse things than what he's been having us do and I could really use a break. Besides, if Gaara and Sensei get things a little more worked out in the meantime, it probably won't be that bad," he reasoned.

After another few minutes of debate they decided to try it so, when Baki came to relieve them that evening they gave it a shot.

"Baki-sensei!" Temari tiredly greeted as he approached.

"You've made a lot of progress today. Which means you should finish this project by the end of the week," he noted sadistically.

"I still don't understand why we have to do this!" Kankuro complained.

"Because when there's a disruption in a team, the entire team suffers," he replied vigilantly.

"But it's not like we knew what Gaara was going to do!" Temari protested.

"But the two of you encouraged him," he argued.

"Well, don't count on that happening again," she vowed with a grumble of indignation. "That's the last time I stick my neck out for a whore."

Gaara shot his sister a dangerous look at her choice of words. For him, the most difficult part of their charade, as Kankuro had pointed out, was his short temper when it came to others insulting their relationship.

Baki looked at Gaara and was greatly pleased that he was so displeased by their conversation. "Good," he looked at Kankuro who readily agreed.

"No kidding, no woman's worth this much menial labor," he complained even though he knew it would upset his sister as well.

Temari just scoffed.

"Regardless, it's time to call it a day. Go home, get something to eat, get cleaned up, and get some sleep. You're going to need it," he almost laughed as he walked away.

Once the three siblings parted for the night, Gaara went to Baki.

"What is it now?" the sensei grumbled as he was leaving his office.

"Don't make Temari and Kankuro move rocks," he requested.

"Give me a good reason not to," he replied.

"Because they didn't have anything to do with what I did. They don't deserve your stupid punishment. I'll finish it myself," he informed.

Baki almost laughed but he was too endeared by his student's loyalty to his siblings. "That's a pretty good suggestion but I'm afraid it won't do. Go rest," he ordered and once again walked away.

With a grumble, Gaara left. He was slightly amused when over the next few months, everyone on his team received from Calixta a birthday card, including Baki. Baki only looked at it until he realized what it was, at which point, he threw it away. When they saw this, Temari and Kankuro made a show of following suit but once their sensei was gone, they found themselves digging through their garbages to retrieve them.

Gaara managed to deal with his siblings faux-disapproval for as long as it took to get their team's relationships back to something resembling normal. This was a great relief for everyone, even those who only had minor interactions with them.

* * *

The following morning after Gaara had been taken away, Calixta sat in her bathrobe, smoking a cigarette, and nursing a large cup of coffee as she sat on her front steps. Even though she had been exhausted, she hardly slept. However, that didn't stop her from smiling when Kakashi passed by on his way to meet the three teenage members of his team.

"Good morning, Calixta-san," he greeted as he approached. Her warm little smile lifted an incredible weight off his shoulders.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei," she returned and scooted over for him to sit next to her, which he did only after making sure he was up wind from her smoke. "How did you sleep?"

"Not very well…but that's to be expected, right? I'm sure it'll be easier tonight," she assured.

"I'm sure it will," he nodded due to her seemingly positive attitude.

"I-I didn't mean to fight you last night," she tried not to apologize.

"It's okay. I understand. On top of everything else you're still recovering from getting your chakra back so suddenly," he reasoned. "Besides, you didn't sock me like you did Baki. Good thing he doesn't have a glass jaw or he'd probably be in the hospital," he joked but she frowned a little.

"I shouldn't have attacked him like that. I don't know what got into me. I was just so tired of his attitude. He fears me and he hates me," she pointed out.

Kakashi gave a thoughtful nod. "I can't say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that wasn't entirely you, that perhaps, you were channeling Gaara's aggressions, since he seemed rather docile during the encounter," he pointed out.

She thought for a little bit and realized that he was probably right. Having one's chakra in another's body was bound to have side effects. "Oh, when do you think we'll see each other again?" she fretted, knowing that even another hour would seem like entirely too long.

"I can't say for sure. I think that's something we're better off playing by ear," he admitted.

She nodded and put out her cigarette, tossing the butt into a small container just off the porch. "I figured but I can't help wondering."

"I know," he nodded again and stood. "If you'd like a distraction, I'm starting a new training regimen for Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura," he offered hopefully.

She smiled again. "I think that would be a nice distraction. It's been a while since we've worked together anyway and since we're on the same team, that just won't do," she teased.

"Good to hear. Why don't you join us after you get dressed?" he continued as he tried to leave.

"Actually…there is one thing you can do for me," she began anxiously.

"What's that?" He had been about to say 'anything' but he knew better.

She blushed a little and led him inside, sitting down next to him in the sitting room. "I know I told you that I was going to let my milk dry up since it wasn't useful anymore but it seems that Gaara kick-started the process again last night. It's not much but I did leak a little through my nightshirt. Would you mind?" she pulled at the neckline of her bathrobe.

Kakashi knew he shouldn't have been surprised by this development. It hadn't been that long since she had decided to let that part of her go as well and he had a feeling that was one of her physical characteristics he appreciated the most. "Uh, yeah, sure…" he agreed.

She quirked an odd look. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just surprised it came back so quickly, though I suppose I shouldn't be," he laughed. "I'm more than happy to help you," he gave a cheeky little grin as he pulled away his mask.

She gave a grin to match his and revealed her breasts to him. They were a little swollen, though if he didn't have as much experience with her as he did, he wouldn't have noticed that. What would have drawn his attention then, would have been the way her puffy nipples grew hard from being so suddenly exposed.

She was right about one thing, she didn't have very much to offer him, at least not compared to what he had become accustomed to, but that didn't really matter. Actually, he was pleased that she hadn't permanently lost that part of herself.

Once he was finished, she covered back up and promised to meet with him and the rest of their team in less than an hour.

* * *

"Calixta-san, I'm surprised you decided to join us today," Sakura greeted with her usual friendly smile.

"Oh?" she quirked a knowing grin.

"'Cause Gaara was around last night, wasn't he?" Naruto interjected.

She sighed at the name of her lover. "Yes he was, but he's gone now so here I am!"

"A one night stand, huh?" Sasuke teased.

She giggled but then frowned a little. "Something like that but if you really care, I can tell you about all that later," she diverted because she was looking forward to the distraction of training with them.

However, when they broke for lunch, the trio had more than enough questions to bring her back to her reality. She gave a brief explanation of what happened the night before, hoping to placate them.

"So, Baki just came and drug him away?" Naruto nearly awed.

"More or less…"

Kakashi had remained largely silent throughout their exchange, right up until that point. "You didn't mention the part where you tried to take Baki on yourself. If I hadn't stepped in, the three of you would have made quite a mess, I'm sure," he teased.

She took the ribbing in good nature. "Yes, there was that too," she nodded.

"You tried to fight Baki?" Sasuke asked, but only between bites to hide his how impressed he was.

"Well, I just wanted him to leave us alone. I understand why he was there and what he was doing…but he was being such a jerk about it, I couldn't help myself," she admitted.

"So two are official now?" Naurto pressed.

She smiled a little bigger. "Yes, I believe that's a good way to look at it."

That made Sasuke give her a slightly suspicious look but he decided to hold his comment until he had a few minutes alone with the young woman. He knew the matter he was about to bring up wasn't good lunch conversation and would make his comrades, as well as anyone who overheard them talking, at least mildly uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm glad things worked out," Naurto vowed.

She nodded and they finished their meal in peace. However, later, once they were finished, Sasuke offered to walk her home. She thought about asking what was on his mind but she got the impression that he wanted to wait until they weren't walking down the street to talk about it. So, she waited patiently until they were on her porch. Then, just as her hand reached the doorknob, he placed his hand on hers and turned her around.

She gave a perplexed little look of amusement and allowed him to gently press her against the closed door. Then, without warning, he kissed her and rather passionately at that. It was the unusual amount of passion behind his gesture that startled her and eventually made her push him away so that she could catch her breath.

"Ah," she gasped once their lips parted, "What was that?"

He smirked, "Of all people, I should expect you to know what a kiss is. What did you think it was?" he teased.

She waited a moment before replying so that she could get a better read on him. Then, she rolled her eyes, "I know what a kiss is…but there was more to it than that. You can't deny that."

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. She had made it clear during their training that day that she was once again in possession of her full chakra but he still couldn't help testing her a little. The slight lightheadedness he felt from their short embrace confirmed what he already knew. "I was curious," he admitted even though he was fairly sure she already knew that.

She rolled her eyes and once again reached for the doorknob. This time, she was allowed to let them inside. "About what?" she probed.

"I wanted to see if you'd kiss me back," he shrugged, not venturing very far into her home.

She gave a knowing little grin. "Oh? I don't think I've ever really tried to avoid your kisses. What makes you think today would be different?"

"Because you said that you and Gaara were officially together. I find it difficult to believe that he wouldn't care about you sharing your affections with others," Sasuke surmised.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, we can keep abstaining from our little training sessions," she offered. "Though I think it would be difficult to stop flirting with you cold turkey."

"I'm not talking about my comfort," he countered.

She nodded. "I find it difficult to believe that you care so much about what Gaara thinks of you…except that he might scare you a little," she taunted.

Sasuke scoffed but wasn't about to lie about his more than slight anxiety around the volatile sand ninja. "I just think it would be stupid to tempt fate. You already went through hell trying to get a commitment out of him. Are you really sure it's wise to just go back to the way things were before?"

Calixta pursed her lips in a moment of thought. "Actually…we didn't get a chance to talk about that kind of thing. Though, I know he understands that none of my other lovers pose any threat to him," she giggled. "I think the best way to describe it at this point would be committed but not exclusive because, honestly, I'm not sure I can do that…at least not while we're so far removed from one another…and Baki isn't exactly helping that either. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy; he doesn't like that I 'sleep around' but he won't let me and Gaara be together long enough to see if I can be sustained by him solely," she explained.

Sasuke frowned.

"Oh, you know I hate it when you make that face," she teased and then grew a little more serious. "You used to make it all the time and then it sort of went away…but then you started doing it again after I got back from the festival," she regretfully informed.

"Ya don't say," he grumbled.

"I get the feeling that you went through a process similar to what I did," she surmised as she poured them each a cup of tea in the hopes he would stop looming over her door as though he was about to run away.

He obliged, albeit reluctantly, "And what's that?"

"We both thought that I would be happier as a normal person but we were wrong," she mused.

"It doesn't matter now either way. You decided to go back to what you were," he shrugged.

She very badly wanted to explain to him the motivations behind that decision. She had expressed to him almost as much as Kakashi her desire to lead a normal life so when that suddenly changed, she felt compelled to explain herself. However, she also knew he wasn't up for it so she decided to let it go. "And just about everyone seems to be happier for it," she affirmed.

He shook his head in exasperation. "I guess I'm just surprised he didn't even mention it, that's all. If I were in his position, I would have at least tried to get you to settle down a bit," he mentioned as offhandedly as he could.

She smiled, "I'm sure you would," she affirmed. "But I suppose that is one of the major difference between the two of you."

He scoffed again, "I hope that's not the only difference."

She giggled. "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you," she dismissed then gave him another thoughtful look. "Are you really worried about my relationship with Gaara…or are you acting out of a self-preservation instinct?"

"What?"

"Well, it just occurred to me," she lied, "that you might be pushing for me to settle down because you're worried that Gaara might lash out at my lovers, especially my more serious lovers."

Sasuke grumbled. "If I was going to be worried about that, I would have started worrying quite some time ago."

She nodded. "I suppose that's probably true," she conceded. "And…if that's the case, then I'll take it as a form of flattery that you have such a deep concern for my love life," she teased.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Then he stood.

"Leaving so soon?" she cooed.

"I have things to do," he curtly replied.

She stood to show him to the door but only so she could better control his exit. "I see. Well, thank you for walking me home. Oh," she stopped just as her hand was on the doorknob, "there is one more thing then, since you brought it up."

"What's that?" he asked with a grumble.

"If you're not worried about Gaara lashing out at you for being with me…then why did you start to pull away when you saw that we were starting to get serious?"

"Isn't that the polite thing to do?" he snapped.

She quirked a curious look. "It is but I get the impression that's not why you did it."

Sasuke grumbled again. "I did it because it was the thing to do at the time."

After another thoughtful look, she let go of the doorknob and pinned him to the inside of the door. Before he could protest, she kissed him forcefully, with double the passion he'd presented to her before.

Her forcefulness made him gasp and she deepened the kiss, dragging him to the floor. His eyes grew wide when his butt hit the ground and he broke their kiss. "Ah-ha ha. Look, we both know you're more stable now than you would be if we had sex right now," he reasoned. "M-Maybe another time."

She gave him a sly grin at her ability to force his hand. "As you wish," she helped him stand and straightened his clothes. "Have a good day."

* * *

Over the passing months, Calixta's full milk production returned and she resumed her occasional care packages to Gaara, knowing that he may not receive them.

Baki happened to pass the mail currier when the first care package arrived in the Sand Village. He recognized the little milk jugs with note attached on sight.

"Is that for Gaara?" he asked when he stopped the currier dead in his tracks.

"Uh," the currier checked the address, "Yes, it is. I was just on my way to deliver it."

"Give it to me," he ordered.

The currier hesitated but obliged since Baki was Gaara's sensei.

"In fact, if he receives another package like this in the future, deliver it to me instead. I will make sure he gets anything really important," he assured and then went on to his office.

With a grumble, Baki set the package on his desk. His first inclination was to dump the fluid, break the bottles, and burn the letter. Then, he decided to at least read the letter first, knowing that it would be an incredible violation of his student's privacy. He picked up the letter as though it was poisonous.

_Ai,_

_Thank you for giving myself back to me in full. Please, accept this small gift to hold you over until we meet again. I pray that it does get to you intact because I know there are those along the way who aim to interfere with our plans. Please, let me know a time and place where we may meet so that I might keep my devilish deal before my time is up. If that is not possible, I pray that part of you that holds my bargain be understanding of our inability to control the actions of others. If that is the case, I would gladly double my deal to make up for the lost time. No matter what happens, my existence is yours to do with what you will and I know you can feel my dedication even across the most incredible distance._

_Cali_

Furious, Baki threw the letter down on his desk. He could help the creeping feeling of unease at the young woman's words. He knew nothing of a deal or bargain between the couple and couldn't help wondering what it meant. Part of him wanted to go to Gaara and ask what it was all about but he knew better than to make such a blunt confrontation.

He decided, then, to stash the letter in his desk, which left him to deal with the milk jugs. Normally, once Gaara had finished what Calixta sent him, he would send back the jugs. He had no intention of letting his student have the prize, even without the letter. So, he sat for a long time, simply staring down the little bottles as though they were an opponent in a death match. Finally, he decided to just dump them out and throw away the bottles. He had considered, for a short time, giving them to the medical clinic in his own village because he knew it would do someone some good but decided that was too risky.

However, just as he was about to dump the first bottle down the sink, he let his curiosity overcome him for a moment and gave the fluid a taste. It was sweeter than he expected. He also didn't expect the immediate healing rush that came over him even from just that small taste. It felt good, in his mind, too good and only served to solidify his conviction as he destroyed the evidence.

All of this was unknown to Gaara, which was good for Baki because he might very well have gone AWOL. This continued for the next several months. Baki would intercept Gaara's care packages, read the letters, and get rid of the rest. The letters after the first were more romantic in nature and less revealing, though she did occasionally mention their mysterious deal, which continued to disturb him.

In fact, it disturbed him so much when she mentioned that the time of the deal was coming near that Baki actually sent a letter of his own. However, he wouldn't send this letter to Calixta. He sent it to her sensei instead.

* * *

Late one morning Calixta happened to find Kakashi waiting for her when she came home from brunch with Sakura and Tenten. "Kakashi-sensei!" she greeted merrily, as was her custom. "Did I forget an appointment?"

"Not at all," he dismissed as he stood to greet her.

She smiled and let him in, "Then to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He appeared pensive for a moment. "I received a letter today."

"Oh? From who?" she pressed since he brought it up.

"From Baki," he grimly answered.

That made her smile fall. "Oh…is it bad?"

"I was hoping you could help me decide that," he handed it to her.

_Kakashi_

_Over the last several months, I have intercepted the care packages from Calixta to Gaara, along with their accompanying letters. I was disturbed when I read about a deal forged between them that was mentioned in several of the letters. She gave no indication as to what their bargain was and I was hoping that you might be able to fill in the blanks for me. Please respond promptly because apparently, the time is drawing near._

_Baki_

She frowned and handed the letter back. "I had a feeling that Gaara wasn't getting anything I was sending him."

"You never mentioned any sort of deal between the two of you. It was my understanding that your relationship with Gaara was unconditional," Kakashi lectured.

"My relationship with Gaara is unconditional," she defended weakly.

"Then what's this all about?" he demanded with uncharacteristic firmness.

"The deal I made was with Shukaku," she admitted.

"What?" he nearly shouted. "You made a deal with a demon?"

"I did," she affirmed confidently.

"What kind of deal?" he pressed.

"In exchange for not completely maiming me or killing me just for the fun of it, I told him that I would try to get Gaara to let him out again," she explained. "He gave me a year to do it."

Kakashi appeared pensive for a very long moment and during that moment, she took the time to study him and take in his emotions. Knowing that he probably wouldn't appreciate her probing him with her chakra, she simply tried to get a feel for the emotions he was giving off. It was very little, as usual, but with that she could tell he wasn't angry or disappointed, just incredibly nervous.

"What happens if you don't keep your end of the bargain?" he asked anxiously.

"He promised to track me down and ruin everything important to me," she admitted.

"How could you make such a deal?" he fretted.

"It was pretty easy, actually. I wanted to see Shukaku again and I still do. And, really, for the sake of our relationship, it was the right thing to do. I had to encounter Shukaku some time and while I do admit that it was probably too soon, I still believe that all in all, it was for the better," she confidently replied.

"And what does Gaara think of all this? I'm sure he wasn't pleased when he found out," he surmised.

"You're right, he wasn't but now he is willing to let it happen. I don't think he wanted to admit it to himself at first, but he knew that if we were together long enough, it would happen eventually," she elaborated.

Kakashi gave a tired sigh. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

She appeared guilty and she knew he could feel her guilt. "I wanted to consider it a private matter."

His frown deepened. "What am I supposed to tell Baki?"

"Tell him whatever you like," she shrugged. "The cat's out of the bag now."

"And you expect Shukaku to just let you go intact this time as well?" he grimly surmised

"I do," she nodded.

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation.

"Do you still trust my judgment?" she inquired meekly.

To her disappointment, he actually thought about it for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I think I do," he finally answered.

She gave a weak little smile and nod. "At least there's that."

"I just have one more question then. If Baki isn't going to allow you and Gaara to see one another anymore, how do you expect to keep your end of the deal?" he asked cautiously.

"Either I will or I won't. I'd like to think that if I don't quite make it on time, that I've already proven to Shukaku that I am worth the wait."

"And if you're not?" he asked darkly.

"Then I hope he won't draw too many others into it," she sighed.

"That's a very tenuous stance," he told her.

"I know but I'd like to point out that as long as no one tries to stop us, there will be no need to worry," she added bitterly. "It is only when others interfere that problems will arise."

The uncharacteristic defiance in her tone took Kakashi aback. It seemed she was taking on more and more of Gaara's traits and he was starting to wonder just how much more alike they were going to become. He was afraid that if it was too much more alike that she would risk losing some of her friends that she had worked so hard to earn but he wasn't going to broach that subject now.

"So, what are you going to do?" she pressed after allowing a few minutes to think.

"I haven't decided yet," he told her as he stood. "I'll let you know when I do."

Kakashi's sudden exit surprised Calixta so much that it took her until he was half way to the door before she said something. "That's it?"

"Is there something else you should tell me?" he tried not to snap.

She eyed him carefully, this time not bothering to hide the fact that she was getting a better feel for him before answering. "There's more you want to talk about," she pointed out.

At first, Kakashi only gave her a backward glance. It was extremely rare that she asserted her empathy over him like that. On top of that, it was even rarer that she actually pointed out his feelings. He had always wondered what their relationship would be like if she used her abilities more aggressively. Because she had been so meek toward him for so long, he even wondered if their relationship would ever get to that point. "What would you have done if no one else found out? If Baki hadn't see fit to go through Gaara's mail and got me to confront you about this?" he finally asked.

"We would have met," she replied simply, "and we wouldn't have bothered anybody about it."

"It's not that easy. Baki doesn't want you two seeing each other anymore so it's not like he'd just let you come back for the next Monsoon Festival and I'm pretty sure he doesn't intend to let Gaara come on any missions here any time soon," he pointed out bluntly.

"There's always a way. I'm sure we would both have been able to make it to some out of the way place for a day or so, find an excuse to leave town around the same time, happen to meet in the same place," she playfully imagined but then grew almost grimly serious. "But now that's just a fantasy. Baki's invasiveness has crushed that as well."

"You really think there wouldn't be any complications? Even if no one else found out beforehand, what makes you think that Shukaku would be half as nice to you this time as he was before?" This time he did let himself snap at her.

"First of all," she finally stood and took a few steps toward him. "This is my life we're talking about. Not some mission. Not some covert ninja thing. Okay? And as for whether or not Shukaku sees fit to be nice to me or even kill me, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew full well it was a gamble and a big one but as far as I'm concerned, it's totally worth it. Gaara is worth it," she asserted and only when she was finished did she realize how much of her own feelings she was showing to him as she spoke.

For a long time after she stopped, he couldn't help just staring wide-eyed down at her. She was like a completely different person, but somehow exactly the same. He had always wanted her to open up, come out of her shell, and express interests of her own. He couldn't help the sigh the came over him when the emotional force directed at him started to wane and he realized that it wouldn't most likely not have been possible for her to reach this point without Gaara _and_ Shukaku. "I understand," he bowed and left before she could say anything more, if there was anything more to say.


	22. Strength

She saw Kakashi off and on throughout the next several weeks but neither of them brought up the deal. Calixta was waiting for Kakashi to make the first move and Kakashi was still trying to figure out exactly what he should do and how he should do it.

So, in the meantime, Calixta decided to do something that needed to be done anyway, regardless of what was done. She made herself stronger. It took several days of conducting interviews before she decided who she wanted to train with, not that those being interviewed knew that's what she was doing. Rather, she simply asked her friends about their routines and when she found someone that she thought she might be able to work with, she asked to join them. This person happened to be Rock Lee.

"Really? You wanna train with me?" Lee pressed one afternoon during lunch, his genuine surprise written all over his face.

"Is that really so strange?" she asked almost meekly. It had taken quite a while, but most of the character traits that she had picked up from Gaara had worn off.

He shrugged. "I guess I just wasn't expecting that. You have a pretty powerful chakra. I would expect you to want to work with someone who's better at that kind of thing, or at least capable of it," he added with a slight grumble.

"That's not what I want to work on. I need my body to be stronger," she affirmed.

"Okay, if you say so. When do you want to start?"

"Whenever is good for you," she conceded.

"Well, I was planning on doing some training on my own after lunch, if you'd like to join me," he offered.

She happily accepted. However, her reason behind choosing Lee wasn't as simple as she was letting on. It was true that she wanted to make herself physically stronger but it was his system of outrageous goals and extreme punishments that clinched the deal. She knew she had to increase her endurance as well as her strength and she knew that the pain of such an incredible workout would help prepare her for her impending encounter with Shukaku.

It was just starting to get dark and they were about half way through a set of five hundred push-ups when Calixta's muscles finally gave and she was unable to force them to start again. Her whole body felt numb to the commands of her brain while every part of her screamed with the pain of having pushed herself so hard in only a few short hours.

They both knew that she wouldn't be able to keep up with Lee, at least not at first, which was another reason why she chose him. She found that more often than not, he didn't not achieve his outrageous goals and unflinchingly went onto what he considered to be an appropriate punishment. That still didn't change the fact that her body always gave out first, not that he ever said anything to her about her shortcomings.

She knew that after this, no matter what he decided to do, she would have to call it a day and ask him to help her home. As she lay on her stomach with her head turned toward him, her almost vacantly exhausted gaze fixed on his face as he pushed himself even harder than he normally would have because she was there.

She could feel his passion and his internal drive. They were more tired and worn than she had ever felt from him. On top of that, she could also feel that she wasn't the only one whose entire body was screaming for mercy. Had she more of her sense about her, she would have tried not to awe so blatantly at him but it didn't matter because his gaze was focused somewhere between the end of his nose and the soft forest floor before him.

It didn't take long before Lee felt her chakra carefully touching his own and shortly after, he realized what it was. For the most part, he was too tired to care and knew that she was too exhausted to really do anything. However, he couldn't help letting himself become somewhat distracted by the strange sensations he would occasionally receive due to the contact. That is, until it felt like she was actively trying to help him. Then he had to put a stop to it.

She hardly realized she was doing it at first but even though her body was nearly incapacitated by that point, her emotions were still running wild within her, either undeterred or even propagated by her physical state.

"Whatever you're doing, I want you to stop it right now," he told her evenly between staggered breaths.

She gave a little whimper and the feelings he was receiving from her waned. As she reigned herself in, her eyes rolled and she gave a heated little groan. When her breathing, which had finally settled, started to become heavy again, she rolled over onto her back. She felt a little flash of guilt for trying to help him, whether she meant to or not.

Lee ignored her and pushed onward. Attempting to ignore her little spectacle actually solidified his resolve to continue even more than her assistance had. However, he couldn't completely block out the little sounds she made, strained little whines of mixed pleasure and pain.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked after another hundred push-ups.

She was barely conscious and his voice sounded very far away. "So tired…" her eyes slid shut and her little sounds waned but she was starting to weakly writhe on the forest floor.

When she gave an exhausted sigh and went all but limp a few minutes later, Lee stopped his exercise, took a moment to wipe his brow and catch his breath, and went over to her. She was laying only a few feet away so he didn't have to go far. "Calixta-san?" he asked carefully.

"Nnngh?" Her eyes fluttered open.

"I think we're done for the day," he offered.

She barely nodded and tried to sit up. When she failed, she allowed him to help her without protest. Once they were standing, she seemed a little more lucid so he decided to keep talking to her. "What was that?" he asked carefully.

She shook her head. "I'm not really sure. I'm so worn out that I couldn't really think about it," she admitted.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't push yourself so hard," he tried.

"No," she argued as forcefully as she could. "I have to push myself to the absolute limit of what I'm capable of," she insisted.

Her conviction startled him. As far as she knew, she was fairly good at keeping things within moderation. Now, he knew her idea of moderation wasn't exactly the norm but that was to be expected. "Why?"

"Because I have to get stronger," she replied.

"But for what purpose?" he pressed.

"Does it matter? All of you train relentlessly even without a purpose. Why should I be any different?" she tried to argue.

He stopped and looked her in the eye. "Because you've always been different. Besides, we each have our own individual purpose, our own ninja way. Please, tell me what this is all about," he continued to plead.

She weakly shook her head. "It's for Gaara," she finally admitted.

"For Gaara?" he almost dropped her he was so startled. "I was under the impression that your relationship with him was nicer than that."

She faltered. "Well, not just Gaara…for Shukaku as well," she elaborated unwillingly.

"Sh-Shukaku?" he barely repeated.

"You heard me," she asserted.

Lee thought his heart was going to stop. "I've met Shukaku, so to speak. I don't know if anybody can stand up to him, except maybe Naruto and that was sort of a draw," he reasoned.

"If you don't want to help me just say so but don't presume to question my relationships," she snapped.

"It's just that…Shukaku is really dangerous," he tried to reason.

She finally managed enough conviction to push him away and remain standing. "Let me tell you something that you might not understand. It doesn't matter how much stronger I get. Shukaku will push me to my absolute limit regardless of what that is," she tried to explain.

"Then what does it matter if you get stronger? Wouldn't it be safer if you didn't?"

"No one ever said that love was a very safe business," she scoffed.

"But you love Gaara, not Shukaku," Lee argued.

She laughed at him. "I love both of them because their existence is one. Shukaku and I have been together once before. When it happens again, I have to be stronger than the last time or he will get bored and find me worthless."

Lee's eyes grew wide with horror. "W-What…What do you mean you've been with him?" he pressed.

"Just what it sounds like. We met. We talked. We had sex," she nearly spat.

"I-If that's the case…then I think you should find someone else to help you, maybe someone with some kind of ninjutsu or genjutsu," he suggested.

"No amount of chakra manipulation will help me. I need to be physically stronger. I need you because you won't distract me with that other stuff," she told him.

He was taken aback by her words and the conviction behind them and barely caught her when she stumbled. "Hey, take it easy."

"Just, please, help me home. Then, do what you wish but…please keep this between us," she weakly pleaded.

He nodded. "Just one thing then," he broached. "Does Kakashi-sensei know about this training?"

She looked away. "I haven't talked to him yet," she admitted. "I wanted to wait until I found someone who could help me before I brought it up and then we just sort of got going before I could talk to him."

"But you intend to, right?" he pressed.

"If that is what you wish," she conceded.

"Do that and I'll keep letting you train with me," he bargained.

"Deal," she agreed and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

When Kakashi stopped by to see her late the following afternoon, he found her still in her pajamas. Since it was obvious that she had slept in and it had been quite some time since she had emptied her breasts, he took the liberty of relieving her of that strain while he started their more serious conversation. He knew it was sort of an underhanded trick, to take advantage of how relaxed she could become when he nursed from her breasts in just the right ways, but she never complained about it.

"So, what were you doing that's kept you in so late?" he asked as he opened her top and started to massage her breasts.

"I was sleeping in," she admitted.

"Oh? Late night?" he pressed.

"Not exactly. More like…an intense night," she lazily elaborated.

"Oh? May I ask who your lucky partner was? Or maybe it was partners?" he lecherously continued before his lips met her nipple.

She gave a deep sigh and continued to relax. "Not like that," she mumbled.

"Then like what?" he barely stopped to ask.

"I trained with Lee-san yesterday," she replied.

He didn't ask anything more for a long time after that. It was only when he was finished with her left breast that he bothered to speak to her again. "What kind of training?"

"I just tried to mimic his workout. That was more than enough to exhaust me," she almost laughed and then did when his tongue started teasing her right nipple.

"I imagine," he mused, thinking that even he would have a hard time keeping up with the enthusiastic young man. "Any particular reason?"

"I want to get stronger," she replied without thinking when he gently sucked her hard nipple, slick with saliva and milk, between his lips.

"Why?" he asked when he let it pop from his lips.

She gave a heated little whimper. "For Shukaku," she let it roll off her lips without thinking.

That made him stop to look up into her half-lidded eyes. He nodded. "Then we have much to discuss," he told her seriously before getting back to work.

Once he was finished, they continued their conversation.

"I wanted to let you know what I plan to do about your little bargain," he began.

She nodded, unsurprised by the fact that he felt the need to become further involved.

"I'm going to lie to Baki," he stated with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to tell him that after berating you in every way I know how, I am sure that all you meant was that you promised to see Gaara again within a year but that you were being melodramatic about it."

"You think he'll believe that?" she asked genuinely.

"It'll help that I'm going to tell him how incredibly disturbed I am by the tip he gave me and that I don't intend to simply let the matter drop," he elaborated.

"Okay…so that gets him off my back a little bit but-" she began but stopped when she saw that he was about to continue anyway.

"It's unfortunate that he's monitoring Gaara's mail so closely…" Kakashi thoughtfully continued. "Do you think there's someone else we can send a message to that would still get to Gaara?" he proposed.

She thought for a moment. "I'd trust either Temari or Kankuro with that," she confidently replied.

Kakashi nodded. "That's a good start."

"If we do that…we should have Kiba-kun send it," she suggested.

Kakashi nodded again. "Now, what to put into that message," he pondered aloud.

"Just warn him that I'll be coming, that he should be ready for me because I get the feeling that we're going to be cutting it close. The Monsoon Festival may be starting three days later this season but in the grand scheme of things, that's really not much," she replied flatly.

"I think we should probably do a little more than that," Kakashi chided.

She pursed her lips. "Then tell him…to prepare himself for another short visit because as soon as anybody else finds out, it won't be allowed to last," she bitterly replied, setting her cup down a little harder than intended and revealing her inner tension.

"Okay. I suppose it's better to keep it simple anyway. The more you plan something like this, the more that can go wrong, right? If we just set a goal then we can do whatever we can to achieve it," he assured her.

"I'm a little surprised your so on board for this," she commented carefully.

Kakashi did like the idea of subverting Baki for the sake of bringing two very disturbed young people closer to peace. "We'll leave together. Just let me know when and I'll make the arrangements," he ordered.

"Yes, sensei," she gave a polite little bow.

"I'm not sure if you realize," he began carefully but with the authoritative tone than tended to get her attention, "but you may have to do a fair number of ninja-type things," he quoted her silly and demeaning language intentionally, "to accomplish our goal."

She nodded. "I understand."

That took Kakashi a little aback. This was the first time that she had agreed that that kind of action was an option, if not necessary. He decided not to say anything about it. "So, you'll continue to train with Lee in the meantime?" he presumed as he stood to leave.

"That is my intention, at least, for as long as he'll tolerate me…and when he's not on missions or something, of course," she dismissed.

"Of course," he agreed somewhat mockingly. "Is that the only area you're going to try to improve?" he pressed.

She gave him a playfully accusing look. "I know we haven't really done much training together have we? It's been quite some time since you gave me one of your silly exercises," she mused. "If you think it's my best approach, I will do whatever you ask," she vowed.

He was endeared by her little ramble and couldn't help smiling a little bit. "Actually, that's not what I meant. I was wondering more about your training with Sasuke or if you had someone else in mind to help you work on your more chakra-centric abilities," he elaborated.

"Because you know that Lee-kun and I are not intimate," she chided. "Sasuke and I have discussed resuming some sort of training regimen but right now we're just taking some time to evaluate where we stand, what we need to work on, that kind of thing, before we go at it again," she explained.


	23. Late Birthday

Naruto happened to pass by Calixta's house as Sasuke was approaching the front door. "Oi! Sasuke!"

The dark-haired teen, who had been deep in thought, started at the sudden intrusion into his thoughts. "Naruto, what is it?" he grumbled.

"Nothin' much, just looking for Master Jiraiya. I'm sure he's slacking off as usual. What about you? Heading over for another 'training session'?" the blonde teased.

Sasuke blushed. "I missed Calixta's birthday and I was hoping that talking to her might give me a better idea of what to get her." Then he paused and eyed his comrade carefully. "Did you get her a birthday present?"

"Uh, no, actually," Naruto admitted. "I spent so much time helping Gaara pick out what he got her that I sorta forgot," he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Sasuke cocked a curious eyebrow, "You helped pick that necklace out?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, not really. I was there when he did it but he didn't exactly want my input if that's what you mean," Naruto reasoned.

The dark-haired teen nodded. "So are you just going to skip it this year and make it up to her next year?" he proposed.

"I-I hadn't really thought about it," he admitted.

Just then, Sasuke got a mischievous look in his eyes. "I bet if we work together on Calixta's birthday present, that would make up for our lack of timing," he proposed.

"You mean like go in together on something? Yeah, I could go for that. What'd you have in mind? I don't really have much money, ya know," Naruto reminded.

Sasuke eyed his comrade. "Actually, I wasn't thinking about buying anything. I think she'd prefer something a little more…personal than that," he vaguely replied.

"Then what?" the blonde asked suspiciously.

The dark-haired teen thoughtfully bit his lip for a moment. "How's your sexy-no-jutsu these days?" he smirked.

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Sasuke! You can't be serious!"

"Keep your voice down or she'll hear us and come out. Hell, she might already know we're outside talking," he mused. "She's creepy like that sometimes. Anyway, what do you say? It'll be a lot of fun and not just for Calixta," he proposed.

"I can't believe what you're saying! Maybe she was right, maybe she really does corrupt people," the blonde taunted.

"There's a difference between corrupting something and revealing something," Sasuke was quick to point out. "Either way, I don't want to waste time talking to you so make up your mind."

"I-I don't think I should. I mean, that's sort of your thing, right?" Naruto backpedaled.

Sasuke smirked. "Sort of but this is different. She has a weird attachment to birthdays. Besides, you were the one to discover her weakness to that particular jutsu. I'm surprised you haven't explored the possibilities yet."

"Apparently, I don't have to because you've been doing it for me," he snapped childishly.

Sasuke shrugged. "Okay, if you don't think you're up for it then you probably shouldn't. It'd ruin the moment if you suddenly decided to chicken out and she hates to have to send people away."

"What?" Naruto demanded. "Look here, just because I don't fool around all the time like you do doesn't mean I can't handle it!"

"What did I say about raising your voice?" Sasuke reminded calmly but continued inside.

"Er, wait, Sasuke…" Naruto couldn't believe himself. "What'd you have in mind?"

The dark-haired teen smiled but kept it in check for when he turned back around to face his friend. "She usually goes to the clinic around this time of the day to get milked," he crudely explained. "I'm gunna save her the trip and see what she wants from there and I'm going to do it as a female because she likes that."

Naruto could feel his heart beating in his ears and he had to swallow hard to actually form a reply. "C-Can I go with you?" he asked timidly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes in mock frustration. "Look, I'm not really sure anymore if that's such a good idea. I mean, I don't want you to get squeamish and make her uncomfortable…besides you don't really know what you're doing anyway," he sniped.

"Yes I do. I mean, I don't do it like you do but you know I've done that before," Naruto defended willfully. "I promise I'll be good," he pleaded.

"Fine, but if I ask you to leave, you can't argue even a single word, got it?" he bargained harshly, not because he expected to have to ask Naurto to leave but because he wanted to more firmly establish the power structure they would be going in with.

Naruto grinned and followed Sasuke to the door. "So, what's the plan?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't worry about it. Just follow my lead. I'll let you know when to change," he assured as he knocked on her door. They were called in by a friendly voice inside.

"Ah, Naruto-kun! I wasn't expecting you!" Calixta greeted merrily.

"Yeah, I was just passing by and saw Sasuke was going to say hi so I thought I'd drop by too," he covered.

She grinned, not thinking to verify his information. "Well, have a seat, the tea's almost ready." As she served it, however, she gave Sasuke a questioning look. If the teen was ever going to stop by for a snack, this was the time he did it and she had actually seen him shooing people away so they could have their privacy. Something was different.

"So, Sasuke," she began carefully, "What brings you here today?"

He knew she was already suspicious, a fact that both impressed and annoyed him, so he decided that waiting any longer to make his move would be a waste of time. "I missed your birthday. I realize it was sometime back but I would like to make that up to you." He couldn't help smirking as Naruto blushed even though he was unaware of the greater reference the dark-haired young man was recalling. He knew it would tip his hand even more but piquing her curiosity was worth it.

"Oh, I see," she managed but before she could continue, Naurto spoke up.

"Sasuke reminded me that I was also forgetful of the occasion so I want to help him make it up to you," he admitted.

Calixta was obviously stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, which made her question her assumptions about Sasuke's intentions. Perhaps an intimate encounter was not in her near future, not that she would have necessarily preferred that but with a lead in like that from the mischievous teen, she could think of nothing else.

She barely saw Sasuke elbow Naruto, shooting him a sideways glance. Then they both started to weave the signs for the sexy-no-jutsu. She recognized the signs but was still too confused to do anything about it. With a puff of smoke some giggling later, Calixta felt her eyes roll back as blood started to flow from her nose uncontrollably.

Sasuke moved toward her, motioning for Naruto to do the same, which he did. Once they were on either side of her, Sasuke wasted no time in pulling open her shirt, exposing her swollen breasts.

"Hey! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Calixta demanded even though she was still quite dazed.

"Happy birthday, Calixta-san," he told her seriously before latching onto one of her nipples. He was pleased that Naruto only gawked for a moment before joining his efforts on the other side.

Calixta gasped and moaned for them, squirming so much that Sasuke felt justified in placing one hand on the small of her back to help steady her. She seemed to appreciate that and showed her appreciation by placing her hands on the backs of their heads. "Oooh," she moaned, "You two are absolutely evil!" she raved huskily.

Sasuke giggled but her grip was such that he was not going to be permitted to withdraw, even for a snarky comeback, without a struggle. So, he let it go at that and kept to work. However, when her cries of pleasure started to border on desperate, he did forcibly withdraw, urging Naruto to do the same.

She gave a great whine of denial. "What's the matter? Why'd you stop?" she complained.

The dark-haired female smirked. "I just wanted to take a few seconds to show Naruto how amazing you are," he cooed.

Calixta squirmed, as she often did when he used that tone.

The smirk grew, fueled by Calixta's submissiveness. "Watch this," Sasuke suggested when he turned back to Naruto. Then, he took his index finger and started to lightly flick her nipple, still wet with milk and saliva. Calixta's body jerked with every pass, sometimes more than others, until one of his motions was given a greater reward. It solicited a little squirt of milk in addition to the little moans and slight squirming.

Sasuke snickered and did it again, continuing to do so until he knew she was excited enough. Then, he stopped his slight flicking motions but the sporadic streams of milk didn't stop. They continued with the rhythm of Calixta's body for several more squirts before dying out as she calmed down.

Naruto awed at the spectacle and when it was over he didn't even think before attempting to try it himself. As he did, Sasuke continued his little show by leaning down once again to tease the swollen nub of flesh with his tongue, swirling it around and around until he received the same effect, this time delivered into his mouth.

When she saw the look of aroused awe on Naruto's face, she decided to play it up a little more. "Oh, Sasuke, I can't believe you're teaching sweet Naruto-kun to be so evil!" she mock raved.

That was the second time she had called them evil and it took Naruto aback for a moment.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Sasuke dismissed, this time squirting milk into his mouth by squeezing her now very malleable breast. Then he turned to Naruto and noticed his comrade's falter. "Don't let her fool you. She loves it. See?" he grabbed Naruto's free hand and led it between Calixta's legs, revealing that she was already dripping wet down there as well.

"Ah, Calixta-san!" Naruto gasped.

At first, her only response was a quiet little whimper as they touched her together.

Sasuke couldn't help grinning. It was rare that he was in the pedagogical role during his sexual encounters and he was finding it to be a nice change of pace. Because Calixta seemed to be taking so much pleasure in it as well, he decided to push it a little further. "You play with this part," he ordered Naruto, placing his fingers on the hood of Calixta's clitoris while his fingers went back to teasing her wet entrance.

At that Calixta was completely lost. She didn't care anymore that she felt deceived by their ambush because they were giving her so much pleasure. Sasuke's fingers weren't even threatening to penetrate her yet and she was already on the verge of orgasm again. She didn't know whose name to scream when it happened and ended up babbling incoherently through it instead, much to Sasuke's pleasure.

Sasuke had been expecting the small flood in his mouth when she came for them but Naruto hadn't and was still trying to clean his side of things up a bit before getting distracted with something else.

"You always make the cutest sounds when you cum," Sasuke told her, bringing his fingers to her lips where she instinctively licked them off.

Naruto looked up just in time to see Calixta's tongue dart out to meet Sasuke's fingers for the first time. It was so erotic that he almost couldn't stand it and nearly feinted himself. There was one thing, however, that kept him awake. He was a little unsure about what should happen next.

"I-Is it over? I-I mean, are we done?" he asked with both hopefulness and disappointment. He knew very little about female sexuality, save what he saw when he managed to sneak a peak at their sensei's dirty manga collection.

Sasuke smirked. "I dunno. Are we done?" he asked Calixta curiously.

She squirmed a little and bit her lip. She was thoroughly satisfied but if they wanted to give her more, she was in no state to argue.

Seeing that Calixta was still incapable of an answer, he posed it to Naruto. "What do you think? Should we stop here? She looks pretty spent," he teased.

Naruto's eyes were immediately drawn to the body of the woman before him, still partially in his arms, his hand still a fair ways up her skirt. "I-I-I-…" he stammered but couldn't manage more than that.

Sasuke snickered again. The first time Calixta told him that a person could charm someone so thoroughly without chakra, he hardly believed her. When she told him that one could do such a thing to multiple persons, he still didn't believe her. Now, he was starting to believe her. Sure, she was an instrument of their passion but he was the driving force behind it. The sense of power was almost intoxicating.

Just as that realization came upon him, he noticed the intense eye contact between Calixta and Naruto. It looked as though there were words on the tip of the blonde's tongue that would go no further than that. Then, just when it looked like Naruto might manage to speak, Sasuke took the floor.

"Naruto, why don't you change back?" he suggested knowingly.

"Wh-What? Why?" he finally broke the intense eye contact to look at his dark-haired comrade.

Sasuke smirked. "I'm not asking you to leave. I think she wants more and since, as you were so willing to point out earlier, I have done a fair many things with Calixta-san. I thought it would be a nice change for her if you did it instead," he reasoned.

They watched as Calixta flushed a little more deeply at the idea but otherwise managed to hold back her other reactions.

Naruto stared across Calixta's prone body in shock. Only the feeling of her chakra finally probing him brought him out of it.

"I…" Calixta was the first to break the silence, turning to Sasuke, "I don't think he wants to," she meekly informed.

Sasuke cocked a curious eyebrow at his teammate, "Is that true?" he asked seriously. He knew from the moment they entered that he had been pushing Naruto's boundaries but he hadn't expected to hit a wall just yet.

"I-I-" he stammered again. He was so flustered that he lost control of his female form and reverted back to his normal self.

Calixta gave the young blonde ninja a warm, welcoming smile. Then, much to his surprise, as well as the surprise of Sasuke, who was still supporting a fair portion of her weight, she leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. He gasped at the sudden affection but didn't hesitate to wrap an arm around her to help her stay close to him like that. Before he realized it, their kiss had deepened and she was starting to undress him.

"You do want this," she told him assuredly when their lips finally parted, leaving them both lightly panting as Sasuke looked on, immensely amused.

Naruto bit his lip and nodded a little, still too embarrassed to put his desires into words. Luckily for him, in this instance, he wouldn't have to.

"Then it won't do to have you completely dressed," she teased, continuing her mission of disrobing him. "I mean, I have hardly any clothes to speak of thanks to the two of you," she chided.

"Not that you ever wear a lot to begin with," Sasuke interjected.

She was unfazed. "And poor Sasuke-kun over here is still completely naked," she continued until his shirt was off.

Sasuke knew she was trying to fluster him at least a little by putting him on the spot so suddenly so he tried to simply ignore it. This was difficult because she had managed to divert much of Naruto's attention to him and his blonde comrade seemed to like what he saw, a prospect that was as flattering as it was creepy and annoying.

The distraction allowed her to undo his pants enough to pull out his erection, giving Sasuke something to gawk at. Naruto blushed furiously when he saw his comrade staring at him, sizing him up, or so it seemed. He blushed even more deeply because once he was exposed, Calixta's hand didn't break contact. She continued to fondle him.

"Ah, Calixta-san," Naruto gasped when she started to rub his beading precum into the swollen head of his cock.

"Oh, Naruto," she mewled and started to kiss him again. Naruto didn't hesitate to give into the affection until Sasuke cleared his throat a few feet away.

"You know I could never forget you," Calixta chided over her shoulder, reaching for the dark-haired ninja. Then, as he accepted the gesture, drawing closer, she gave him an expecting look, making it clear that she wanted him to make his next move or she would make it for him.

Taking the cue, Sasuke moved up behind her, pulling her away from Naruto. It was a slightly jealous gesture, and he would admit that if she decided to call him out for it, which she wouldn't, but he wanted to see how Naruto would react. As he expected, he reluctantly allowed the yielding young woman to be taken from his arms.

"You remember Kakashi-sensei's birthday?" Sasuke asked her quietly. "I wanna do something like that," he suggested.

Calixta nodded and allowed Sasuke to lay her down. Then she watched as Sasuke reached a welcoming hand out to Naruto, who had decided to take the few free moments to finish removing his pants and shoes. The blonde accepted the outstretched hand and allowed the female Sasuke to lead him toward them until he was between her legs. Once he was close enough, Calixta wrapped her legs around him, pulling him the rest of the way.

He gasped when his erection clumsily brushed against her wet heat. She giggled with delight.

"Go for it," Sasuke encouraged.

Naruto still hesitated.

"Gimme all ya got," she encouraged.

That made the blonde cave but he was halfway in when he accidentally made eye contact with Sasuke. "Wh-What about you?"

"AAAh!" Calixta nearly screamed with anguish when he stopped.

Sasuke laughed. "Oh, settle down," he scolded and pinned her shoulders down and climbed on top of her, facing away from Naruto, with his wet sex over her face.

Calixta's eyes rolled and she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's thighs. She even moaned at her first taste of him.

Sasuke shot a curious look over his shoulder. It was hard to concentrate on much of anything with the way she was licking him so he knew it would be his last chance to direct Naruto before the event was over. He was pleased that while the blonde still hadn't finished his first thrust, he was in absolute awe of what was happening before him. "Go for it," he repeated and this time was heeded.

Naruto grasped Calixta's hips as her strong legs wrapped even more tightly around his waste. He was lost in bliss after that first thrust and the only reason his eyes stayed open was to watch Calixta pleasure a female Sasuke, who seemed to be enjoying himself very much. If he had a little more experience, he would realize that Sasuke faced the way he did because he didn't want Naruto to see his face as it contorted with pleasure.

Sasuke was surprised that Calixta didn't bother to hold back Naruto's orgasm. She was intent to let him finish in his own time, even if that time was quickly approaching.

The gawking blonde almost stopped his thrusts when Sasuke screamed. If he had been able to see the dark-haired teen's face, he would have seen a strangely erotic mix of pain and pleasure. Then, he heard Calixta gasp.

Sasuke tangled his fingers in Calixta's hair and pulled her down to the floor. "Don't bite me!" he indignantly ordered.

She squealed and thrashed. "Okay, okay," she pleaded, trying to pull him back to her.

Sasuke made a sound of mock disgust and allowed her to continue. With that, Naruto resumed his former pace and came inside her a few short minutes later. After that, he sat back on his heals and continued to awe at the pair before him. Calixta was laying flat on the floor now, obviously completely spent. Sasuke was still on his knees above her, catching his breath.

"Happy late birthday, Calixta-san," Naruto finally giggled.

She found his laughter contagious. "Thank you, very much. It was a very pleasant surprise."

Sasuke couldn't help chuckling a little as well as he dismounted and changed back, reveling in the fact that he was now the only one who was fully clothed.

Sitting up after a moment, Calixta took a few sips of her cold tea before adjusting her clothes and finding a cigarette. She shot them a wink over her shoulder as she sat down next to the window. "Oh, wow…" she marveled with her first exhale of smoke.

By this point, Naruto was dressed and feeling awkward so he munched on a few of the cookies that she had put out for them.

About half a cigarette later, Sasuke stood. "I should go. Have a good evening," he gave Calixta a little bow that was only slightly mocking.

"Thank you, Sasuke," she called after him.

Naruto looked around nervously at so suddenly being left alone with Calixta. "Uh, thank you very much, Calixta-san," Naruto bowed deeply.

She laughed a little, taking him by the chin to raise him back up. "Thank you, Naruto-san," she winked and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Now, run along," she gave him a little pat on the butt on his way out.

He was incredibly relieved that she let him go so easily and he left her house with a spring in his step. He was so happy that he didn't realize that he had caught up to Sasuke until he walked up next to him.

"Hey, Sasuke," he greeted with a little blush.

"Ugh," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," Naruto managed.

"Don't. Just don't," the dark-haired young man countered.

"Yeah, okay. What are you up to?" the blonde suddenly asked.

"Nothing," he admitted. "You?"

"I'm gunna get some ramen. I'm starving!" he nearly raved.

Sasuke almost laughed but covered it with a contrived frustration. "Aren't you full?" he asked knowingly.

Naruto's blush continued. "Well, it's not like I didn't work it off," he teased back. "Come on, I have an extra ticket," he led his teammate over to the next cart he saw and ordered two bowls.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again but complied.

"So…" Naruto began when they sat down together with their food. "How long have you and Calixta been…doing stuff like that?" he forced himself to ask, figuring he'd get shut down anyway.

"Do you really wanna know?" Sasuke asked seriously.

The blonde faltered. "Uh, yeah, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," he managed.

"Since…" Sasuke actually had to stop and think about it, "about a year after she got here," he estimated.

Naruto's jaw dropped in surprise, "Really? For that long?"

"Well, it's not like we do it all the time and it's not usually like that," he assured his teammate.

The short blonde gave his company a very critical look.

"Don't think so hard, you'll strain your brain," Sasuke mocked between bites.

"Okay, then I'll just say it. What is it usually like then?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

Sasuke sighed. In actuality, he had been wanting someone other than Kakashi to discuss his experiences with. Unfortunately, he had yet to find someone that would fit the bill. Naruto was hardly choice but he was making himself available and after what had just happened, he felt a certain amount of trust in his teammate that he'd never felt before. "You're not going to believe me anyway," he baited, hoping for another few seconds to gather his thoughts.

"I'm not sure I believe what just happened," Naruto scoffed quietly.

The dark-haired teen noted that his company was keeping his voice down, for once, which signaled to him that, at least on a subconscious level, Naruto realized how heavy a subject it was he was prying into. "Actually…it's more like work," he admitted almost shamefully.

Of course, Naruto laughed. "If you say so. I don't know if I could consider anything like that to be work but you're weird and I know I don't really understand what goes on between you, so I'll take your word for it."

Sasuke continued to carefully eye his companion, who was being surprisingly sociable that evening. He wondered if Calixta had something to do with that and if she had such an effect on him. If he had known that Naruto was thinking much the same thing, he would have considered his suspicions confirmed. "It was Kakashi-sensei's idea," he elaborated and Naruto nearly dropped his chopsticks.

"You say that like you didn't want to," the blonde grimly surmised.

He almost laughed but only showed a small smile. "It's complicated. She was being stubborn. I'm sure you've noticed that she does that from time to time," he bitterly added. "He wanted to step up her training but she refused unless he used his shringan to copy her abilities and use them on her. She insisted that she know what it felt like before she really tried to affect others."

"I'm kinda surprised that he didn't take her up on that," Naruto mused lightly.

Sasuke snickered, "I would have been too if I didn't understand why he asked me to take his place. He said that it was because my sharingan were stronger." That was all he was going to say of the flattery that got him into the mess he was discussing. "And that he, as her sensei, should maintain a certain level of objectivity, which would have been impossible if he did what she wanted. Part of me thinks he just wanted to watch," he added to lighten the mood a bit.

It worked. Naruto laughed a little because he knew it was probably true.

"She seemed to think it had a certain poetic justice to it that way anyway," he mused.

"What do you mean?" the blonde pressed eagerly but still managed to keep his voice quiet.

"Because I'm the only person left in her life that was affected by her chakra before she started to gain control of it. You probably don't know this but during the escort mission we were on to bring her here, she charmed me," he elaborated.

"I felt it too," Naruto defended. "I just didn't realize it at the time. When I look back on it, I can tell exactly when she was doing it and when she wasn't."

Sasuke was slightly impressed with that but didn't let it show. "You only felt it sometimes because she was focusing on me. She wasn't sure how you'd react to her. She was afraid you'd be too immature, so she went for me. Either way, Kakashi-sensei still would have chosen me because I could copy her."

"And you did," Naruto tried not to grumble.

"You have no idea how I felt about what happened on that mission…and the weird tension between us after that; I'm sure you noticed that part. She wanted me to give her a taste of her own medicine and she knew I was willing to deliver it," he almost boasted.

"Okay, okay, geeze. I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do. I'm just shocked, that's all. It's weird for me to think about you like that," the blonde admitted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes yet again, "I'd prefer that you not think about me like that at all."

"And yet you invited me into your little birthday present," he chided.

The dark-haired teen pursed his lips. "You were handy and I know you'd be nice to her no matter what I did," he defended.

"So…" Naruto wanted to back peddle but he wasn't sure if he would be allowed. "How is it like work then? Is using her power really that hard?"

At that, Sasuke did actually laugh. "You have no idea. Honestly, I don't know how she can stand it…and, really, to say she has a power is deceptive. Really, she has several powers that all function together," he explained. "It's really hard to keep it all together. If one thing tips too far, then everything goes out of whack. When that happens, I have to stop and start over again," he admitted.

Naruto nodded, mostly out of thanks.

"That's mostly why it's like work. He's having us work together to try to control that. Having her teach me about it has seemed to help her understand her powers much better," he defended.

"So, does Sensei just sort of sit around and referee?" Naruto proposed with a silly little smirk.

"Just that first time. After that, we were on our own. I'm sure if we asked him to, he'd do it again. You know how he is," Sasuke grumbled. "He knew it would work as long as neither one of us was too aggressive, either offensively or defensively, but I think he stuck around mostly to make sure we didn't start fighting halfway through or something," he laughed.

Now that he'd had a chance to think about it, he realized that there had been moments when Calixta and Sasuke's relationship had taken great positive strides and that around the time that was being described to him was one of those times. "I bet you learned a lot from her," Naruto chided playfully, hoping to lighten the mood once again.

"You might say that," Sasuke admitted with a cheeky grin. "I'm sure that if you were interested, she'd be willing to spend some extra time with you."

Naruto blushed at the notion. The idea of attempting to recreate the incident of only an hour before had not occurred to him. "Oh, no, I couldn't do that. It'd be too weird," he admitted.

Sasuke frowned. He knew that his relationship with Calixta was 'out there' but he didn't think it was that bad, not bad enough to be called 'too weird'. "Why not?"

"Oh, you know. I dunno," he babbled. "I mean, that was amazing and all and maybe some day I might wanna try something like that again but I can't think about sex as casually as you and Calixta seem to," he admitted as though he felt he was in the wrong.

"You're such a pervert sometimes, I'm surprised to find you're actually quite prudish," Sasuke sniped.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not saying that what happened didn't mean something. It was too amazing not to mean something," he mused. "But I don't have that kind of emotional connection with Calixta. Maybe you do, I dunno."

Sasuke stared down into his empty bowl for a moment before setting down his chopsticks. He had barely finished his meal and almost regretted slurping up the last few noodles. He was pleased that Naruto was capable of acknowledging that there was something deeper than weird sex between them, even if that was often the driving force behind their private meetings. "Very well. I just wanted to let you know. Oh, but if you change your mind, make sure she's not already with somebody else," he advised offhandedly.

"Why's that?" Naruto questioned curiously, wondering if he had enough change in his pocket for another bowl of noodles.

"Well, it depends on who she's with. Most of her lovers will just shoo you away, or if you're lucky, pass her off to you, but sometimes they want to share. And then there's people like your Master Jiraiya. He will mock you to no end while doing the very things he's mocking you for. I don't know how you can stand him. That man is absolutely infuriating!" Sasuke finally raised his voice a little above conversational level but then caught himself.

Naruto just laughed a little. "I'll keep that in mind. So, on that mission, did you two have sex?" he questioned boldly.

Sasuke leveled a mischievous look on his teammate. "Sakura knows, perhaps you should ask her," he suggested. "She was paying attention so she knows what did and didn't happen on that mission."

"Did Sakura have sex with her?" Naruto gasped.

Sasuke laughed loudly at that. "No, of course not. But I wish she'd been here to listen to you ask that. She probably would have died." Then, he grew serious again as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Look, I don't really enjoy talking about all this so, if you have anything else to ask, do it now or don't bother."

Naruto wracked his brain but came up with nothing so they left together just in case he did think of something. It wasn't until they were at the front door of their dormitory that he thought of a question. "Actually, I have one more thing to ask, if I still have time, that is."

Sasuke nodded in compliance.

"What about Gaara?" he finally asked.

"What about him?" Sasuke questioned back.

"Well, they're pretty serious now, ya know. Do you know how he feels about her having so many different lovers?"

"I haven't bothered to ask him myself but Calixta has hinted that he his aloof to such things. He seems to accept them as part of who she is. Personally, I think he's settling on it for now because he knows he won't find a better woman than her to spend his time with," he harshly joked. "You know…he can tell who she's been with," he added offhandedly, "or so he says. Again, I haven't bothered to verify that." Not that he was sure he really could.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Naruto panicked.

Sasuke laughed at him. "Because, like I said, I don't think he really cares, at least, not right now anyway so I think you're safe. Besides, if you're only with her this once, as you intend, then I doubt you'll be more than a blip on his radar. It's people like me that would need to worry if he suddenly decided to give a damn and do something about it."

Naruto shuddered at the thought of having that kind of confrontation with the volatile sand ninja.

"Good night Naruto," Sasuke tried to escape inside but to no avail.

"Hey, wait! I got one more," he called after his comrade.

Sasuke rolled his eyes for the final time that evening. "Ugh, what is it?"

"Earlier, when we were actually with Calixta, I thought I heard you say something about Kakashi-sensei," he began.

"So?" he snapped.

"Have you and Sensei…um…ya know," he motioned.

Sasuke blushed deeply but much of it was hidden under the cover of the coming night. "It's not like that," he managed.

Naruto sensed his comrade's discomfort but couldn't help grinning a little at the secret anyway. "Oh, more training then?" he teased, running up next to him.

Sasuke swallowed hard. He wasn't sure at this point which was worse, the fact that Naruto knew enough at this point to start a decent rumor if he decided to go asking around or the hope that if he gave enough information, the blonde would actually keep his mouth shut. "It was once. Actually, it was a lot like what happened today but on Kakashi-sensei's birthday. Only, I sort of stopped by in the middle of things and she dragged me into it," he explained.

"Oh," Naruto grew thoughtful for a moment. The fact that their experiences might be similar made him feel like he had a better perspective and understanding of his teammate that he wasn't expecting. It also made him more likely to keep every detail of the conversation a secret. "I never would have figured."

"I'm not sure he would have approved as eagerly as he did if she wasn't completely charming him at the time. It took me a little bit to realize that that was actually her gift to him. The sex was, as usual, just for the fun of it. It was…completely weird," he sighed, almost laughing at the audacity.

"Now there's one thing we can both agree on," Naruto laughed and Sasuke finally caved, giving into his laughter as well. "Thank you, Sasuke. I mean that," he added and then before the other could tell him to stop again, he continued, "and good night." With that, the blonde sauntered off toward his room. He had a lot to think about and was already astonished by what he'd pried out of the normally very silent Sasuke in such a sort amount of time.

Sasuke did much the same, also quite surprised at how easy it was to open up to Naruto so quickly. It was what made him realize that while he trusted the blonde with his life but not with his privacy and pleasure.


	24. Intrusive Questions

Naruto was already on his way up to Calixta's door when he heard a strange thump, followed immediately by a little whine. As worried as he was curious, he listened and heard a rustling coming from his left so he took a few steps that way and continued to listen. He couldn't hear anything anymore but he felt compelled to continue and did so that direction until he reached Calixta's bedroom window, not that he realized until he peered in to see her in a very compromising state that it was her bedroom.

Gasping, he turned around. He was about to clasp his hand over his mouth but thought that might be too obvious a gesture of distress. He tried to steady his breathing but found himself nearly shaking in the process. Never in his life had he been faced with a decision that left him so torn. Half of him wanted to flee, practically for his life, to get as far from her as possible, never to speak a word of it to anyone. The other half wanted him to stay and at least take one more good peek. From what he saw in his brief glance through the crack in her window, she surely wouldn't notice him…as long as he could keep his chakra under control. But one more peek couldn't hurt, right? After all, it was Calixta. Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated so long on a decision that felt so vital but this instance was different because, unlike the other times he had this feeling, lives weren't at steak, no one was in danger, except perhaps himself, and that might be a risk he was willing to take.

When he could finally take a breath to steady himself, he looked around, finding the surrounding area rather quiet…until she made another sound. There was another little thump, this time followed by a soft moan. Without thinking, Naruto whipped back around and looked inside. He bit his lip almost hard enough to bleed at what he saw.

She was sprawled out on her bed, a thin sheet clinging to her body, as her head tossed back and forth fitfully. Her expression spoke only of unseen pleasures and when he heard the soft thump again, he realized it was her. Occasionally, when her legs would twitch or fidget, she would kick the wall next to her bed. It wasn't very hard and it didn't seem to bother her any.

He could feel his pants grow tighter when she let slip another soft sound of pleasure, this one closer to a sigh than the last. As he watched, he saw that the part of the sheet covering her breasts was starting to show little spots of wetness, which were quickly combining to make one, larger, more distinct spot. Just when he thought that he should maybe consider tearing his eyes away to make sure he still wasn't drawing any attention to himself, one of her hands pushed the sheet down until she could reach between her legs unobstructed.

This time the blonde had to clasp his hand over his mouth to hold in the gasp elicited from seeing her in such a state. He couldn't help thinking that in some ways, she appeared more natural like that than any other way that he had seen her. He also couldn't help watching her very carefully because, well, first of all, if he was going to get into trouble for it, he might as well enjoy himself in the process. But primarily because he wanted to see what she was doing that seemed to bring her so much pleasure. In some ways, he was taking notes. In others, he was finding himself more than a little jealous that she seemed to get so much out of so very little. As far as he could tell, she was barely touching herself and already on the verge of orgasm. It made him wonder if maybe there was something he was missing.

Again he gasped, this time at the thought that if she did finish soon, his curiosity would be rewarded with such a sight. He was rewarded but it would be his undoing. To see her so intimately engaged with herself and to hear her moan, even though the sound was much akin to the name of a certain temperamental sand ninja, made the blood that he had managed to hold back for so long come gushing out his nose. The sudden hemorrhage caused him to groan and he fell over with a graceless thump.

Regardless of Calixta's state, she heard the sound from outside her window and with a start, she quickly wrapped her sheet around her and rushed over to the window, opening it the rest of the way. "Naruto!" she fretted. For a moment, she forgot herself and wasn't embarrassed or angry, just worried. Well, she was worried right up until she saw that the major damage presented itself in the form of a still rather incredible nose bleed.

"Calix…" he muttered dizzily.

She rolled her eyes with exasperation and threw on her robe, storming outside and dragging the still dazed teenager into her living room.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, throwing him on the floor.

For a moment, Naruto's shock shifted to awing at her seemingly disproportionate strength as she drug and tossed him around. "Uh…I-I wanted to talk to you…and I got distracted…please forgive me," he bowed deeply, pressing his forehead to the floor as he sat on his feet.

She was taken aback by his sudden sincere apology. "Ugh, get up," she grumbled, sitting next to him. She was incredibly annoyed but she couldn't manage to get angry over his motives. "I hope you enjoyed the show."

Naruto blushed thoroughly as he raised his head. He was about to answer but then realized that she didn't really want, or need, him to.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked seriously.

He faltered, having all but forgotten his purpose at this point. "Uh, well…I kinda wanted to talk about what happened that one time with us and Sasuke," he managed after a moment.

She frowned. "What about it?"

"Look. I've intruded enough. I should probably just go. I hope you can forget that I was even here," he prayed and tried to leave.

"No way," she grabbed him and pulled him to sit next to her again. "Talk."

There was a lot he wanted to say but he feared he wouldn't be allowed to get to all of it. "Well, first of all…I was wondering if Gaara is okay with stuff like that," he began.

She eyed him carefully. "That question implies that you might want to do something like that again in the future," she surmised, not wasting any time.

"Uh, no, actually, not at all. Well, that didn't sound right. I had a great time but that's not why I'm asking. I'm asking because I want to know. The way I see it, even if he does care, he has more prevalent figures to worry about than me," he reasoned, silently thanking Sasuke for that revelation.

She laughed a little. "That is true. I think the best way to describe his attitude is…permissive and perhaps a bit curious. He understands that certain things cannot change, at least not at this point. Actually, I think he was a little confused that you hadn't taken advantage of my hospitality yet," she mused.

"I would never dream of-" he tried to defend.

She just nodded. "I know, don't bother. Besides, after a display like that, either I trust you or I don't. Rationalizing isn't going to do you any good." Then, she gave a depressed sigh.

"I really am sorry. I just sort of got caught up in the moment, I guess. You were so…beautiful." He almost didn't finish his sentence but he felt compelled to.

She appeared startled by that and gave him a careful look. "I never pegged you for a peeping tom but I suppose since you spend so much time with Master Jiraiya, I should expect such things," she teased.

"I-I didn't mean to…mostly…ugh. I can't believe I reacted like that," he grumbled. "So, how mad are you?"

She smiled. "I'm not mad. I'm disappointed," she admitted and felt his heart sink because of it. "Not in you," she quickly amended.

"Then in what?" he pressed.

"I would have liked some time to just lay there for a while afterwards, actually. It's often the best part," she confessed. "But I'm glad you managed to stay hidden until then…not that you really had the best hiding spot, you know."

"Oh…I didn't really think about that," he admitted.

She gave him a mischievous little grin. "Perhaps you could make it up to me."

"H-How," he barely managed to ask.

She quickly snaked around behind him, and went straight for his fly. He gasped, but didn't stop her. At first it was out of shock, then he allowed her advance because he was willing to accept her punishment for peeping on and interrupting her…as long as she didn't ask too much. The problem then became what would be too much?

"Wh-What are you doing?" he managed to ask to keep himself from taking her hands and pulling them away from his exposed erection.

She peered over his shoulder at him with an impish grin as she withdrew her hands. "Give me your hand," she requested casually.

Naruto swallowed hard and did as she asked.

"I want to tell you that the reason why I was so disappointed," she informed, taking his hand in hers. "It was because right up until I opened my eyes, I was in an empathic link with Gaara."

"From so far away?" was all Naruto could manage.

"Well, it is exclusive between us. I couldn't do that with just anybody," she assured.

Then Naruto could feel a strange tingling warmth in his hand, the one in hers. He didn't get to see her smirk as she led his hand to his erection, wrapping it around the length. "Aaah!" he gasped at the advance. "What-?" He tried to pull his hand away and found himself incapable of gathering enough conviction to do so.

"That's right," she coaxed into his ear as she started helping him run his hand up and down his length. "Very good," she continued as she slipped away. She took a seat a few feet in front of him, reclined as she pulled out a cigarette. "Just like that," she praised as she watched, her eyes riveted to the blonde young ninja before her.

Her greedy gaze seemed to encourage Naruto's hand. He grit his teeth and tried to break eye contact but found that extremely difficult, possibly even more difficult than stopping touching himself. "Ah, Calixta-san," he pleaded.

"Yes, Naruto-san?" she prompted curiously as she exhaled a rather large drag from her cigarette.

He was so dizzy at this point that for a moment he thought that as she was speaking, the smoke was forming her words in the air before him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts but it did no good. "You're being really mean," he complained.

She faltered, nearly dropping her cigarette. Her falter allowed him to stop what he was doing, covering himself a little instead of stroking himself even though he still couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She appeared annoyed and more than a little put off. "Fine, just go then," she turned away and took another drag. "You're off the hook."

"Uh," he finished redressing himself. "A-Are you sure?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I just wanted to watch you jerk off. I'm sorry I was a bitch about it, sometimes Gaara's brashness rubs off on me," she explained.

Naruto could hardly tell if Calixta was embarrassed at all at first but now he could tell; it was written on her face as well as in her chakra. "Y-You weren't really being mean," he managed.

"Don't patronize me just to make me feel better. It's not worth it. Let's just forget you were even here today, okay? Like you said," she tried. She was still mentally berating herself for letting Gaara's more aggressive nature surface in hers so fully.

Naruto sat back, frowning petulantly at her. In actuality, he had been hoping that if he made complaint, that she would give in a little and perhaps come back to him. Even just having her stroke his cock with him would have been amazing. He didn't like how suddenly she had withdrawn after being so forward. He had also hoped that if he humored her fancy, that she would talk to him about all the dirty things he had questions about that no one else wanted to answer.

So, with a challenging look, he took his seat again, opened his fly, pulled out his erection, this time wiggling a little further out of his pants than she had made him, and started stroking himself again. He was disappointed that she didn't see fit to look back to him to see what he was doing. So, he let slip the smallest of moans as he ran his palm over the swollen head of his member. That got her attention and he couldn't help smirking at the look of shock on her face.

It was Calixta's turn to gasp at what she saw. She wanted to tell Naruto that he didn't have to do that but she could tell he wanted to and that feeling stole her words. She didn't realize her nose was dripping with blood until he started to giggle a little at her. With a sound of frustration, she grabbed a tissue and put it to her nose as she ashed her cigarette. Her frustration didn't last very long, however, because of how quickly he let go of his inhibitions, letting his legs lay flat in front of him at nearly a ninety degree angle, with one hand behind him to prop him up, while the other did its job.

"You think you could do that tingly thing to my hand again?" he proposed curiously.

She cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "That's what made you want to stop," she pointed out.

"If you don't want to, that's fine. It was just…" he was actually starting to approach his orgasm rather quickly, something he found oddly disappointing. "really weird. If you had said something about it…" he suggested.

She didn't think she should have to. She thought that she had made herself clear enough, but then again, that might have been Gaara's influence surfacing again. "I'll try to remember that," she nodded distractedly, completely absorbed by what she was seeing.

Before long, Naruto's posture took on a much less relaxed air. He drew up his knees and leaned forward a little so his off hand could reach into his pants and play with his balls. Though, he was mindful enough to keep his knees widely parted so she could see as well as possible.

As he drew closer to orgasm, she could feel her hands trembling with the urge to go over and touch him. When that urge became almost overwhelming, she spoke. "Naruto! Stop!" she suddenly ordered.

He had hardly realized that she was helping his hand pull him toward pleasure when she used that control to compel him to stop. "Wh-What is it?" he asked through gritted teeth and a grumble of frustration.

"I have to ask you a question," she told him, putting out her cigarette butt and crawling toward him until their faces were only inches apart.

"Uh, uh-huh," he managed to nod.

"Was I your first?" she questioned curiously.

He faltered. "Well, yeah, sorta," he admitted.

"Sorta?" she scolded. "It's a yes or no question."

"Well, yes but the experience was so weird that I don't think it really counts, ya know?" he tried to explain.

She found that oddly endearing, especially that he considered the whole ordeal to be "an experience". In a way, it made her feel special. It also served to alleviate much of the guilt that she had been experienced over the encounter. With that, she sat back and gave him a thoughtful look. She couldn't help thinking that he looked adorable like that, his knees spread wide, blush covering his entire skin, and erection still in hand. The look of hopeful anxiety he was giving her didn't hurt either.

"Why ask now?" he asked, almost panicked because he had yet to receive further instruction.

"I wanted to ask before but I reasoned that you're not the type of person who generally does things he doesn't want to. I figured, if you got uncomfortable, you could leave and hopefully not feel too bad about it. I didn't get the chance to because I was so overwhelmed by the two of you," she giggled a little at the memory. "So, I guess I'm asking now because I have the opportunity," she shrugged and then finally gave into his expecting look. "Would you like me to assist you again?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto bit his lip and nodded. With the predatory way she was eyeing him, he couldn't exactly manage to speak. He did, however, manage to groan when her hand joined his and she settled between his legs.

"Show me how," she requested softly when her hand rested on his.

The blonde, for a moment, felt as though he might lose consciousness. Because he was so dizzy, he didn't even nod or give any other signs of affirmation before starting to move his hand again, this time squeezing a little tighter, twisting his wrist just so, and occasionally swirling his thumb over the head. She followed his every move without error until he was on the verge once again.

She desperately wanted to tease the young man some more. Maybe just fake him out this time and give it to him next time, she thought, but he was too sweet to her for such treatment and she took pity on him, assisting him in maintaining his desired pace when the pleasure started to cause his muscles to falter.

"Oooh, Calixta-san," he moaned when he spilled himself in her hand. Instinctively, he wanted to screw his eyes shut during his release but there was something about their eye-contact that kept them open, albeit half-lidded much of the time.

When she was sure he wasn't just going to tip over, she withdrew, examining the prize in her hand. Just when he had gathered enough of his breath to speak, she took the floor. "There's just one more thing you can do to make up for spying on me like you did," she told him mischievously.

"What's that?" he asked warily through his post-orgasmic haze. Later, he would realize how incredibly unfair it had been for her to make any sort of move on him while he was in such a blissfully compliant state.

She crawled back over to him and held her palm out in front of his face. "Eat this," she ordered casually.

Naruto's lazy grin turned to an expression of mild disgust. "Why?"

"Because it pleases me," she informed flatly. Really, she just wanted to see if she could get him to do it.

Because he knew it was her final request before dropping the matter, he complied, trying to lap up the puddle of cum in one shot to get it over with as quickly as possible. She watched him closely to make sure he swallowed before withdrawing once again to light another cigarette.

"Thank you, Naruto," she bowed a little but when she brought her head back up, she noticed a slightly amused look on his face. "What's so amusing?"

He smirked a little. "You're tits are leaking," he literally pointed out.

Calixta gasped and looked down. Their last exchange had excited her enough to elicit certain physical responses, the leaking of her milk through her blouse was one of the more noticeable responses. She made a little sound of embarrassed disgust.

Naruto licked her lips without thinking. "You want me help you out?" he proposed hopefully.

His tone made her blush a little. "Uh, yeah, if you want to," she conceded.

With an only mildly suppressed greedy grin as he crawled up behind her. Out of curiosity, he didn't open her shirt right away. Instead, he wanted to massage her breasts through the fabric, enjoying the way her nipples eagerly pressed against his hands.

She gave a soft little moan at the attention. Her milk had already started to let down so she didn't need it to loosen her up. Naruto's heated display had done more than enough for that but his strong, gentle hands on one of the most sensitive parts of her body quelled any argument she might have had. It just felt too good. Most of the time, when someone helped her out as he offered, they got straight to work. These hands seemed curious and like they wanted to play.

Her vocal appreciations deepened when he started to coaxingly squeeze her breasts. Apparently, he had enjoyed his time with her and Sasuke more than he let on, because he seemed intent to express her milk using his hands rather than his mouth. Usually, she preferred oral expression but this was a nice change of pace. Besides, she knew that Naruto was a very hungry young man and that it was unlikely that he would let all of it go to waste.

However, for the time being, he seemed content to squeeze her milk out through her now soaking wet blouse, a pink article made of thin fabric that crossed in the front and tied at her sides. Neither of them realized it at first, but he was working toward something, something that he was rewarded with minutes after he started. He managed to get her excited enough that, with his assistance, she would actually squirt through her thin blouse.

At first, she didn't even realize it was happening but the way his body eager pressed against her as he peered over her shoulder that the spectacle made her remember more than just her pleasure. "Ah, you're making a mess," she breathily scolded.

Naruto just laughed a playful little snicker and gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he continued that for about another minute. After that, enough pressure in her breasts had been released that she could no longer provide such trajectory. Only then did he open her shirt but even so, he continued in the same way he had before, finding that without the fabric to serve as an obstruction, he could actually watch her nipples dribble a little between squeezes.

After the first couple of times Naruto's fingers squeezed her nipples, at the end of their journey over her breasts to force out more of her milk, Calixta gave a heated gasp and leaned back against her partner's warm, sturdy body. "Ah, Naruto," she mewled as he continued, now with even greater leverage because she was allowing him to control her center of gravity as well as his own.

Had he not been with her before, he wouldn't have recognized the shift in the sounds she was making. Sure, they had been heated from the first moment he touched her but now they had an edge of impending pleasure, of that blissful anxiety of pre-orgasm. The idea that he could make her cum so easily almost made him falter but his desire to see if his hunch was correct let him continue without so much as a twitch.

"Oh, Calixta-san…" he awed as he looked down at her. Her head now mostly rested on his shoulder as she nearly sat in his lap, allowing him a perfect view of what he was doing. "You are too sexy."

"Nngh, Naruto-san, don't say things like that," she half-complained.

"Aw…why not?" he whined.

"I-I don't like to hear those kinds of things," she admitted through gritted teeth.

"Would you rather I tell you that you're ugly?" he teased.

She tried to frown but she was still in too much pleasure to really do it. However, he could still sense her disapproval, which was much greater now than it had been when he called her sexy. "Fine, I won't tell you how sexy I think you are. I won't tell you that the sounds you're making make me feel really weird inside or that the way you pressed yourself against me's got me all hard again," he almost rambled.

She knew he was enjoying himself but she hadn't considered that he was enjoying her that much. To verify his information, she rocked her hips back a little and felt his hardness poking out at her through his pants. "Ah, Naruto," she gasped, mentally scolding herself for underestimating this particular teenager. She was also secretly delighted by the fact that he had chosen to mention items other than her physical appearance. His compliments at this point were bound to be physical but he seemed much more entertained by what she was doing rather than how she looked while doing it.

He decided that he'd had enough of talking for the time being and went back to focusing all his attention on bringing her the pleasure her body desired. When she was on the verge again, and it greatly pleased him to be able to tell exactly so, he spoke again. "C-Can you really cum like this?" he asked, noting that the breasts in his dripping wet hands were much smaller now than when he started.

She bit her lip and nodded, giving a repressed little whine at the idea spoken aloud. Her verbal response came a moment later, "Yes," she breathily answered, "but I can try not to if it makes you too uncomfortable," she offered knowingly. "If that's the case, then you should ease up a bit."

"Oh, I don't mind at all," he greedily replied, redoubling his efforts thanks to her thinly veiled hint.

Seconds later, she was practically writhing in his lap, pushing back so hard that when she did cum for him, she managed to push him over onto his back, taking her with him.

Immediately, she rolled over to face him, never breaking contact with his body. "Naruto-san," she whispered, her dilated eyes darting all over his face as though it would give her a better read on him.

"Ah, Calixta…" he gasped when she started to grind their hips together.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" she asked mischievously.

"Huh?" he blinked up at her, confused, having all but forgotten his earlier embarrassment at her hands.

"You forget so easily. I was teaching you a lesson about not peeping on me," she reminded cruelly.

He shot a look down at her breasts, somehow still in his hands. "Uh, oh yeah…I thought we were done with that," he managed.

"You were helping me out because the machine down at the clinic isn't as nice as a real person can be," she haughtily replied.

"Oh…" He appeared crestfallen.

"Not that you didn't do an amazing job. If you keep that up, I might have to recruit you to help me out more often," she winked and his blush intensified. It was almost too easy. "So, have you learned your lesson?" she pressed eagerly, both verbally and physically.

He actually thought about it for a moment. Realizing that she was now going out of her way to embarrass him, he wanted a decent comeback. "Yeah, I learned to just knock 'cause this is way more fun than watchin'," he snickered.

She beamed down at him in a way that made him think his heart had stopped when actually it was beating so hard it might as well have been trying to leap out of his chest. "I think I underestimated you. I am very sorry for that."

"What do you mean?" he gasped, no longer able to keep his hips from moving with hers.

"Please don't be offended when I say that you are rather naïve but I can see now that it's not through a lack of imagination or effort," she mused. She knew that being called naïve was on the short list of things that the blonde very much disliked hearing. However, this time, he didn't seem very offended, a little perhaps but that was visceral reaction. "It's been a lack of opportunity. Though, I'm sure the influences of Kakashi-sensei and Mater Jiraiya as well as myself should not go unaccredited."

"Uh, yeah, that makes sense to me," he managed. "Does that matter?"

"Part of me wants to think it does…the rest of me wants to screw you silly," she confessed breathily.

"Calixta-san!" he tried to scold for her casual tone.

She gave him a slightly challenging look. "I'm sorry, in general, I'm more accustomed to older men, they generally have greater personal restraint but once they're done, it's over," she explained. "So, this is actually fairly novel for me, to be with someone as young as you."

"But wh-what about Sasuke a-and Gaara?" he tried to continue his questions but he could feel her intense heat through the crotch of his pants and the fact that he thought he could feel some of her moisture starting to soak through the fabric.

"My relationship with each of them is different. Sasuke's all business and prides himself on his self control, especially when we're together. As for Gaara, there's so much emotional stuff going on that I don't really pay attention to who cums when," she told him with a giggle.

"Oh…" He finally let his hands travel back down from her breasts to his pants to slip out of them once again. This time, she helped him take them all the way off.

Even though she thought he looked very cute wearing only his shirt and a light coat but decided that he might look even cuter naked. As she helped him pull off his clothes. "So, this isn't what you wanted when you decided to visit me today? You were only going to sit and ask me questions?" she reminded.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much…" he admitted.

She smiled. "I was under the impression that what happened with Sasuke was fairly self-explanatory," she baited.

He bit, "It's not just that. Actually, I was hoping I could come to you about…ya know, like sex stuff. You seem like the only one who might actually give me a straight answer instead of just shooing me away…and I trust you like not to laugh at me too much," he nervously replied.

The word trust made her reel back until she was upright on her knees with him prone between her legs. At this point, they were both naked and ready to go. Instinctively, his hands grasped her hips, just in case she decided to pull further away than that. He wasn't emotionally prepared for such a withdrawal. Fortunately, she only intended to go that far. She even placed her hands on his as a gesture of reassurance.

She took a few long moments to study him and it made him incredibly nervous. He could feel her chakra probing him, testing him, drawing out his own. Her eyes took in every inch of his skin that she could see. When her eyes reached the seal mark on his belly, they grew wide, her breath almost faltering.

"What is it?" Naruto asked fearfully. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no, of course not. It's just been a while since I've gotten to take you in so fully. You've grown so much since we've met; you've matured in some very subtle ways," she nearly awed. "It's your innocence, you know. If it wasn't for that…" she trailed off.

"What?" he almost shook her.

"I-I don't know. You'd be different. It's bound to happen eventually. It happens to everyone and it always changes them." She stopped to study him again.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" he squirmed.

Her serious expression slowly took on a smile as her eyes slowly crawled up his body to meet his. "Because you are very complicated," she complained. "But let's not worry about that now. You've let me stall for far too long already," she told him as she used one hand to part her glistening lips and slowly descend on him.

"Ah, fair enough," he barely agreed, almost completely unaware of what he was saying with her tight heat encasing him only fast enough to keep him from interfering.

Once she settled her weight on him, she flexed her pelvic muscles a few times, reveling in the little mewls of pleasure she received in response. After that, she rode him so hard he thought she might leave bruises but at the same time, he couldn't help thrusting back with equal force. Before long he was hitting her hard enough that he actually needed to hold on to her hips because her knees would raise off the ground, leaving her with no other means of balance.

Neither of them bothered to count the number of times she came before he did but he relished every second of it. When she started to fall backward a little bit, he sat up as quickly as he could and propped her up with his knees. She was amazed at his instincts and couldn't help simply allowing him to do as he pleased as she fitfully clung to him. He couldn't help thinking that his name sounded eerily like a prayer when it poured from her lips as her head rested on his shoulder.

Naruto came hard inside her a few minutes later and they sat slumped over with heads on each others shoulders, panting as though there wasn't enough oxygen left in the room. Then, slowly, as they caught their breath, they both started to giggle, just a little at first, but before long, they were clutching their stomachs and once again trying to catch their breath.

"Oh, Naruto-san," she kissed him, "That was amazing."

"Ah," he started a little at the kiss but quickly recovered. "Does this mean I can come to you to talk about stuff?"

She laughed a little at his persistence. "I don't know how much help I'll be to you but I will try to do what you're asking," she nodded.

He smiled and did a little victory dance, which made her giggle, as he was still partially inside her. He gave an embarrassed little chuckle and finished the motion, setting her next to him instead of in his lap. As comfortable as it was to have her there, it didn't feel quite right and he knew Calixta would sense that, and preferred him to do what made him more comfortable.

"Thank you, Calixta-san," he bowed once they were redressed and he was ready to leave. "Please, don't tell Kakashi-sensei that you caught me peeping."

She laughed. "Yes, getting caught is the worst part as far as he's concerned. No, I won't breathe a word to him but it might be interesting for you to…" she paused for a moment to consider her words, "mention it to him. He would be extremely impressed to find that you had successfully peeped on me," she noted.

"I wouldn't lie to Kakashi-sensei like that. It's just better not to say anything at all," he wisely surmised.

"It wouldn't necessarily be a lie. You weren't caught until the very end. If you left that part out, he'd never know. I think you deserve credit for managing as well as you did in such a poor hiding spot," she lectured.

"You mentioned that," he grumbled.

"It's just something to think about. Oh, and you probably wanna go get changed if you plan on doing anything else today," she warned.

"Wh-?" was as far as he got before he looked down to see some very obvious remains of their passion staining his clothes. With a little grumble, he took off his jacket, folded it over his arm and held it in front of him, which did manage to hide most of the evidence. "Thanks…"

"Naturally. I'll see you soon," she vowed and showed him out, leaving both of them with a lot to think about.

* * *

Calixta happened upon Kakashi at the market about a week later. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei!" she greeted with a warm smile.

"Good afternoon," he gave a mock bow.

They exchanged further pleasantries in the same, nearly mocking fashion until they ran out of banter. Then, she grew serious before he could escape.

"I wanted to tell you about something," she began carefully as they walked with full baskets down the road.

"Oh?" He never liked that tone.

"I just wanted to let you know that Naruto has started coming to me to ask certain kinds of questions," she informed.

"What kinds of questions?" he asked even though he had a pretty good idea.

"Oh, nothing terribly important. He's just curious about certain…sexual matters and he asked me to clear them up for him," she elaborated vaguely.

Kakashi frowned. "Didn't you say that he was one of the ones you didn't want to corrupt?"

She made a frown to match his. "I think I said something like that. I still think he should savor his innocence before it's completely gone…but that's the issue, isn't it? What I was talking about preserving isn't something that can last forever," she pointed out.

"So you've taken up answering his questions about it?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, he's only come to me once so far and that was just to propose the idea but he gave the distinct impression that he would be back, most likely armed with many questions, questions that I will attempt to answer."

Kakashi shook his head in exasperation.

"Don't do that. You had your chance," she scoffed.

"What do you mean?" he took a defensive step backward.

"He tried talking to you, and I got the impression several others, before he came to me. I was something of a last resort for him. He said that he was afraid that I would find him silly and not take him seriously, as you and others have done before." She paused to gauge his reaction. "Or maybe you're not as comfortable with that kind of thing as you think you are. It's one thing to do it and something else to talk about it, isn't it?" she chided.

Kakashi almost glared at her. On the one hand he enjoyed that she was so independent now. She was a much happier and productive person for it. On the other hand, she had also picked up some of Gaara's mannerisms and attitudes, which had a habit of getting under his skin.

"If you want another shot, go 'head and take it. His ears are wide open," she made a funny face while pulling at her ears. "You know I won't stop you."

"If the opportunity presents itself, I won't hesitate to take advantage of it," he assured her.

"Good because you know he doesn't have many blood relatives left to take care of that kind of thing so someone has to do it. He's a good kid and doesn't deserve to stumble through things as blindly as he is simply because no one wants to take him seriously. It takes quite a bit of guts to ask the kinds of questions he does and I think that kind of courage should be rewarded."

"I see…" he grumbled. "Then why are you telling me this? It sounds like the matter's been taken care of."

"Oh, don't give me that," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Sure, if it was two normal students heightening the level of their relationship, no, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. In fact, it might be kind of fun to try to keep it from you for as long as possible. However, as I'm sure you've realized, he and I aren't exactly normal," she giggled. "Besides, you always wanna hear when one of my relationships takes an unexpected turn, especially for the better," she bragged.

Kakashi nodded and finally let himself smile. "Just be careful about what you tell him. You know how boys his age can be," he warned.

"Of course! Sheesh! I've already told him that I will let him know if he asks me a question that I think is too personal to answer and I intend to refuse if he tries to learn any seduction techniques from me," she winked.

He shook his head again but this time he was laughing affectionately. "After all this time, you would think I would learn not to underestimate you."

She gave a little bow, this one sincere. "I prefer to be underestimated," she informed. "I find life much more difficult if people overestimate me."

"I still feel guilty every time I do it," he admitted.

"Don't. It's an easy thing to do. In fact, I realized when Naruto came to me that afternoon, I underestimated him…and the changes he's going through," she replied seriously.

"Changes?" he prompted as the approached her porch and set down their bags.

She sat down on the porch swing and lit a cigarette, offering one to him but he politely refused. "You know how I talk about people's aura's sometimes?" she began.

With the way she began and how comfortable she had made herself so quickly, Kakashi figured he was in for at least another few minutes of conversation so, he sat down next to her. Neither of them said anything when he reached for her cigarettes and started one of his own. "Yeah," he replied during his first smoky exhale.

"Then, I believe I've told you that they're constantly in flux. In fact, I've found that if they get stuck one way for too long, it's bad for them, but that's not the case here," she smiled a little and ashed her cigarette over the back of the swing and off the side of the porch. "I told you when you first asked me that Naruto's aura was green, an indication of his innocence. Since then, it has started to shift to a color that reflects a greater level of maturity: physically, mentally, emotionally, everything. It's hard to describe but at the rate he's at, it's going to be a very quick transition indeed. But then again, we should have expected that. After all, it is his nature and all things act according to their nature," she reminded.

She had obviously put a lot of thought into this before speaking to him about it. It made him feel a little ambushed. "I understand," he nodded again after a moment of thought. "So…does that mean that you and he are being intimate as well?" he pried.

She quirked an odd grin. "I think he'd prefer I not say. After all, assumptions are bound to be made either way," she shrugged. "Is there a particular stance you'd prefer that I take on that? Actually, that's the main reason I brought it up. I mean, assuming that we aren't intimate, as you say, we both know that just talking about sex gets teenage boys excited."

Kakashi faltered a little at her sudden deferment. "Well, I was just thinking that you seem to have everything already figured out and our conversation sounded more like a status update than anything else so I thought you would have already made that decision."

She smirked and gave an endeared little giggle. "I was hoping to simply allow him to make advances as he pleases, as long as they aren't too outrageous…and I'd be sure to let him remind him that I am not like most women."

Again, Kakashi found himself shaking his head in exasperation.

"I knew this wouldn't please you," she commented when they were nearly done smoking.

"And you did it anyway," he countered, not because he believed it but because he wanted to see how she would react to his displeasure. Would she be insubordinate or would she bow to his decisions? At this point he couldn't really tell.

"I hardly did anything, other than try to be as politely honest as possible. He came to me," she insisted.

"Yes, you've made that perfectly clear."

"Should I have turned him away like so many others have?" she challenged.

"If you knew that I wasn't willing to have those talks with him, then why would you assume that it would be okay for you to do it instead?"

"You weren't turning him away because he's not ready for that. You did it because you're not ready. I've seen it before. He really looks up to you and often takes you more seriously than you would prefer," she noted passively. "But you don't think it's wrong for me to take him up like this so why are you being so difficult about it?"

Sometimes he really hated that anymore, even when he was trying to shield himself from her, they were close enough now that at least some of his deeper feelings got through to her. However, this also meant that he could sense full well what she was feeling, not that she usually tried to hide her feelings from him. She was curious and daring and truly felt justified in her decision so he caved. "Fine. I just don't know why you had to tell me about it if you had everything all figured out" he tried not to snap.

"I already told you that," she chided, presenting her ashtray. "Besides, all things considered, I am one of the better people to help him out. Can you imagine if Master Jiraiya had taken him up on it before he came to me?" she proposed.

Kakashi groaned. "Point taken and as far as I'm concerned, the matter is closed until further notice. Got it?"

She gave an assuring nod. "Sure thing! Oh," she faltered.

"Ugh, what else?" he grumbled, pretending that he was more annoyed with her than he actually was.

"Just that…I think he knows that something extra sexy happened on your birthday," she confessed.

"What did you tell him?" he snapped.

"_I_ didn't tell him anything," she haughtily replied as she started to carry her things inside.

"Hey, wait! Then how did he find out?" he ran after her.

"I'm surprised you're so upset about it," she giggled. "But I believe he heard Sasuke say something to me in passing. It wasn't too telling," she lied, "but he is a smart boy."

He eyed her critically because he could tell she was trying to cover for Sasuke a little after exposing his indiscretion. "Fine. I don't suppose there's anything I can do about it at this point anyway. Thanks for letting me know," he sighed.

"Thank you for being so understanding," she beamed up at him before giving him a sweet little kiss on his lips through his mask.

He let her relief wash over him with that tiny affection. Then, he gathered his things and left. As he walked home, he told himself to try to avoid her on the days when it seemed she had held onto some of Gaara's rougher influences.


	25. Careful what you wish for

Kakashi, as he often taken to do doing, wandered by Calixta's home on his way home from his daily duties. At first, he approached as normal, but as he got closer, he started to get the impression that something was off and decided to take a more covert approach.

When he snuck up to the side window, he could hear shouting inside.

"You are absolutely impossible!" Sasuke shouted, storming away from her.

She gave a low chuckle and slowly followed him. "Oh, come now. As much as it disgusts you, part of you loves every little bit of me, all the dirty, dingy little parts," she accused with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"How dare you! You think you're so smart!" he stormed back toward her only to shove her away.

Calixta stumbled backward and ended up leaning against the table to catch herself. "You always were uncomfortable with how easily I could read you," she taunted.

"You slut!" he pushed her down. "You filthy fucking whore!"

She giggled and Kakashi had to tear his eyes away for a moment to gather his thoughts. Their bizarre spectacle almost made his head spin. He couldn't tell if they were messing around or if they were being serious. It made him a little sick to his stomach to think that they were dancing along the line between the two.

"I should learn to expect such ignorance from you by now. After all, no matter how much you like to play like you're a man, you're still just a boy, a horney little boy," she countered. "At least this whore doesn't make you pay for your time with her."

Kakashi's eyes grew wide. He had never heard her refer to herself with such a term and she hardly tolerated it from others, especially Sasuke.

"Tch, at least you'll admit you're a whore," Sasuke sniped and then before she could answer, he leaned over and started to kiss her. Of course, she completely gave into his advance. Because it was so easy, he cut it short. "You're almost too easy when you're like this," he taunted harshly.

That made Kakashi peek back into the window to see how she would respond to that. She just smirked and, with her hands on his shoulders, forcefully sat up, effectively pushing him away. "You like it even less when I play coy for you," she retorted, pushing off the table so that he couldn't pin her there again, at least not as easily.

Feeling empowered by her retreat, Sasuke lunged forward and managed to catch her wrist before she could completely evade him. She was fast but he was still faster. However, she was well aware of this and didn't allow herself to falter. Instead, she used that momentum to kick his feet out from beneath them until they were a tangled mass of limbs on the floor. While he was disoriented, she took the opportunity to try to secure her superior position by lacing their fingers together as she straddled his hips.

At first, Sasuke thought she had made a critical error. Because like their difference in speed, she was strong but he was stronger. He could very well break both of her hands like that, not that he would, but he quickly realized it was just as much an advantage for her. He could feel her chakra coursing from her palms into his own. Because a ninja's hands are the main conduit for moving chakra out of their body, it was easy for her to reverse the flow and use the opening to her advantage. By the time he started pushing back with his own chakra, it was too late.

She giggled again, "You don't want me to play coy…You don't want me to be easy…You're not leaving me with very many other options, you know," she taunted as she sat down in his lap, rolling her wetness against his clothed erection.

"Maybe it's just you," he countered weakly, feeling dizzy from the sudden influx of chakra into his body.

She laughed at him. "No, I think it's something else…and I think I know what that something else might be," she teased.

"You're not half as smart as you think you are," he spat. "You don't know anything about me!"

Now Sasuke's words were starting to take Kakashi aback. Sasuke had admitted to his sensei on several occasions that there was an eerie level of understanding between himself and Calixta. He knew that the notion that Calixta didn't get Sasuke's personality at this point wasn't true. So, either the teen was deeply in denial or he was lying. Fortunately, Kakashi was getting the impression that it was a conscious lie, a simple empty taunt, which allowed him to breath a little easier.

Sasuke fought to turn his gaze away from Calixta's penetrating stare but couldn't manage to do it. The steadiness in her eyes was the only thing that kept the dizziness and disorientation he was feeling from becoming overwhelming. When he realized this was intentional, he was furious. "You bitch! Knock it off!" he bucked suddenly and managed to break her concentration as well as roll them over so that he was on top, kneeling between her thighs.

She gave a little whimper at being so suddenly dislodged but was too stunned to do very much until it was too late. He had already regained the superior position and was starting to push her chakra, as well as some of his own, back into her through the same means she had used on him.

When the first little flares of Sasuke's energy entered her system, a great moan tore through Calixta and she couldn't help wrapping her legs around the young man above her. "Sasuke…" she groaned as he continued.

Once she was practically putty, he eased up again, "See, too easy," he taunted.

Kakashi found himself blushing a little at what his student was implying. He could hardly believe that Sasuke would want Calixta to be forceful with him in ways that only she was capable of. All the times that had happened in that past, either during their first encounter or their off the wall training sessions, Sasuke always seemed averse to the idea.

It dawned on Kakashi just as the words confirming his conclusion poured from Calixta's lips. "You're the one who likes to be coy," she accused in a dark but playful voice.

Since she knew that, at least for the time being, she wouldn't be able to physically overtake Sasuke again, she went with her only other option. Calixta's chakra flared almost violently, causing Sasuke to lose his balance and fall down on top of her. She just wrapped her legs more tightly around him and returned the intense grip she was being afforded from him.

"You wanna pretend like I'm taking advantage of you?" she taunted. "That might be an interesting game. It would give you a reason to try to resist me like you want without worrying about whether or not I will stop pursuing you to the very end," she crooned into his ear, sending intense shivers up and down his spine.

Sasuke could barely believe the little whimper of barely repressed pleasure that he gave. He could hardly understand what she was saying but just the timber of her voice, it's gentle vibrations, and the way her warm breath tickled his ear made his whole body ache for her. He couldn't help letting his full weight rest on her in an effort for greater physical contact.

"Oh…now, we just decided on the game," she teased, slowly pushing him away, which took significant effort, "You can't quit now."

Her taunting resparked the fire behind his eyes and he tried to push against her but she already had her momentum again. With an only slightly mocking grin, she managed to slip out from beneath him only to tackle him back to the ground. This time, she pinned him face down and he really gave an honest effort to try to escape her but even when he did manage to raise up onto his hands and knees, she simply rode on his back, digging her heals into his hips and pulling his hair.

Her forcefulness caused Sasuke to collapse once again to the floor, this time with an extra hard thump due to the fact that her full weight was resting on him. He gave a small oomph sound as some of the wind was knocked out of him.

"You're going to have to do better than that," she told him in a sweet voice while her hands loosened their grip in favor of playing with his hair instead.

"Nngh, you fight a lot dirtier than I remember," he complained.

She giggled and felt him shudder because of it. "I'm going to have to fight dirty if I have half a chance of winning," she pointed out, her voice carrying intense undercurrents of admiration that almost made him melt.

Her answer made Sasuke hesitate for a moment. He realized then that even with as playful as she was being, she was still fairly serious about what they were doing. Unless they were training, which they hadn't really done in a while, he had a hard time getting her to take him seriously. Now that she was, it almost made him self-conscious.

Of course, in actuality, Calixta had a difficult time not taking Sasuke seriously the vast majority of the time but it was rare that she let herself give into those feelings and act on them.

Sasuke's newly revived self-consciousness put him back into action. This time he managed to throw her off before managing to raise back up onto his hands and knees. It looked like she landed rather uncomfortably but she didn't seem to care.

"So, you gunna start tryin' now?" she taunted, placing a careful hand on his leg because that was the closest part of him to her.

He kicked but it was already too late, she had a grip on his ankle. Since he expected her to pounce on him again, as the look in her eyes indicated, he wasn't ready for when she stood and started to drag him off. "Hey! What the hell! Lemme go you crazy bitch!" he continued to kick but found her grip unusually strong.

As she expected, he did eventually manage to free himself, but was surprised by how long it took him. "Sasuke…" she leered down at the bulge in his pants, "Now who's being easy?"

Again his rage flared and with a swift kick, he knocked her off her feet. To keep his upper hand, he leapt on her, pinning her face down on the floor. He was going to take her hands in his at first but remembered himself and took her wrists instead.

"You always told me I was too difficult," he told her in a dark, dangerous voice.

His tone didn't deter her and she laughed. "That was before I realized how much you enjoy being difficult," she replied, rolling her hips back so her butt rubbed against his erection.

"It doesn't hurt that you like chasing me so much," he replied, shifting his weight so that he could sit on the cushions of her round ass and pull her hands even further back behind her. "I should just hog tie you and leave you here like this."

His taunt caused her struggle to renew in full, something he found even more enjoyable than her submission. He could tell that she was really trying to escape his hold so that she could reassert herself once again.

"So, what are we playing for this time?" he asked so casually that Kakashi found himself practically holding his breath as he strained to hear her response.

What Kakashi didn't know was that most of the time it was the person who thought they were in a position to win that asked. The question was especially deceptive because it was more like he was asking what she was willing to do during their encounter but that was something that had become understood between them over time, something they never had to put into words.

"I thought we were playing for the usual. I mean, that is why you're sitting on me, isn't it?" she asked, straining to look over her shoulder at him through half-lidded eyes.

Well, that wasn't very much help for Kakashi but it did make Sasuke laugh a little as he shook his head 'no' with a mocking grin. However, his younger student's response gave it away. "Tch," he scoffed. "I want more than just the right to be on top," he asserted, twisting her arms upward for emphasis. It wasn't enough to hurt her but she certainly wasn't comfortable and she had almost no leverage whatsoever. "I think it's pretty obvious that has become something I can simply take when I please. You're going to have to do better than that."

Actually, he wanted to draw out their little game a little longer. He wanted more because this was one of the times that he felt especially close to her. For the most part, they had learned to maintain a reasonably respectful distance between them in spite of their more intimate activities but this was different. If she was serious, he wanted to see how far that would go.

She squirmed beneath him for a short moment but it was more because the position he had her in was making it difficult to take full breaths and she was starting to get lightheaded. She knew she couldn't escape him just yet but she was hoping that it would afford her a little more wiggle room. It worked, but only for a moment because before she could even draw her third full breath, he regained his advantage, even venturing to push a little harder to keep her in place.

Kakashi didn't realize that Sasuke's approach was largely intentional. In their times together, the young ninja had quickly discovered that giving her vertigo was a very effective means of derailing her chakra control and at times like these, he wasn't afraid to do it.

Not only was it effective, it was also very efficient and his assertion of that was reaffirmed when they both felt her start to crumble. However, there was one thing that Sasuke wasn't aware of and that was her training with Lee, someone who would rather die than stop fighting. It was an ace up her sleeve and she was disappointed to have to reveal it so soon but if she didn't do it now, she knew the opportunity would be lost and he would start dictating terms to her, something she greatly detested.

During her training with the enthusiastic young ninja, she had learned that sometimes, it was just better to let yourself fall for a moment and pick yourself back up than to keep pushing from the same losing position. She managed to speak about half of his name before going limp beneath him.

Sasuke and Kakashi's eyes grew wide with horror. Kakashi was shocked and appalled by the idea that the young man was capable of such a thing. Surely, with as close as they were in the moments before, the teen should have sensed her slipping and let up…unless it was intentional. Fortunately, the horrified look Sasuke was giving her as he carefully set down her arms and climbed off her body indicated that it was an accident.

The sensei fought the urge to come bursting in only because he could see that the young man was done pushing his luck and she was starting to breathe normally again. When Sasuke thought it would be safe, he carefully placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to roll her over onto her back, hoping to further ease her breathing. His empathetic gesture backfired when she suddenly grabbed his wrist. "Sucker," she taunted as she moved around behind him, twisting his arm behind his back and using her other arm to wrap around his neck. Because he was now a few inches taller than her, this forced him to awkwardly lean backward into her, not that she minded having to support part of his weight for the sake of her renewed advantage.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief so heavy that he worried for a moment whether or not they might have heard him. The last thing any of them needed right now was for him to get caught.

"You're insane! What the hell was that?" he demanded as he tried to twist away from her, finding her even stronger than he expected. Her deception went even deeper than he originally anticipated. Not only had she faked her unconsciousness but she used his few moments of grief and shock to pull back her chakra, taking a fair portion of his with it. "And you say I'm evil," he barely choked out before she let up just enough so he could speak more clearly.

"I warned you that I'd be playing dirty this time," she chided. "So, what was it you wanted to play for?" she pressed and then started nibbling on his ear.

Unbeknownst to Kakashi, Sasuke's ears were one of his weak spots, regardless of what form he was in. Just that practically made his knees shake. "Loser isn't allowed to cum until the winner says so," he replied through gritted teeth.

She snickered into his ear, reveling in the idea of such intensely aggressive teasing and denial. "Don't worry, I won't let you cum too soon," she taunted. "That would spoil both our fun."

Sasuke gave a genuine growl of frustration. That wasn't what he meant and she knew it but now the idea was in her head and there was no escaping it. Then, he remembered his free hand, which was no longer fighting to maintain his balance, and decided to put it to work. He reached back between them and grabbed between her legs. This his dismay, however, that advance didn't distract her, as he had hoped. Rather, it seemed to strengthen her grip. He would either have to do better than that or try something else.

If he couldn't feel through the thin fabric of her sundress that she was practically dripping wet already, he might have stopped. As he continued to grope her, it felt like she was becoming more relaxed but that only seemed to focus her further and make her grip more secure. So, out of desperation, once he found the hood of her clitoris, he pinched her and probably harder than was necessary.

She screamed right in his ear as they both felt the harsher side effects of his abuse ripple through them. It made him gasp and before he knew what was happening she was pushing him down until his face was squished against the floor.

"That fucking hurt!" she complained indignantly.

"You still kinda liked it," he mumbled as he tried to push back up again.

She ignored the taunt in favor of using the last of her momentum to lace their fingers together again, solidifying her authority. "I expected you to fight at least a little harder than this," she taunted. "You're just lucky I can't do that sexy-no-jutsu yet or you'd be in big trouble."

Kakashi thought for a moment that his heart was going to stop. It hadn't occurred to him that she might be using her time with Naruto to her advantage as well as his. Even if he wanted to walk away now he knew he couldn't. What was unveiling before him was too fascinating, too telling to simply abandon.

She had him convinced that she was the worst ninja possible, that the turbulent emotions within her gave too much away for her to really deceive someone. If she felt deep down that what she was doing was wrong, the other person would sense it and that would inevitably lead to her failure. The encounter he happened upon very quickly changed that opinion.

Not only was she really giving Sasuke a run for his money, she was doing it with an ease that almost frightened both the sensei and his male student. She had led Sasuke into a false sense of security before revealing her newfound physical strength. On top of that, the way she did it, by feigning unconsciousness, must have required a great amount of control and misdirection on her part because he knew how emotionally tied the pair had to be at that moment.

Then there was her attitude toward Sasuke, which the teen only seemed to want to elicit further. Kakashi had never heard her speak so bluntly or condescendingly to the young man. In fact, she usually made an almost annoying special point of tending to Sasuke's pride when she wasn't giving him a hard time and even then, her taunts were generally only superficial.

"I won't let you cum until you scream my name," she told him challengingly.

Sasuke had no intention of giving her that satisfaction but was finding it difficult to do much of anything at the moment. His mind was racing. When had she become so strong? And how? He had sorely underestimated her this time and if he didn't do something drastic and do it soon, he was going to end up paying for that mistake. Unfortunately, it seemed the only thing he could do at the moment was make a concession so that she might ease up on him for a bit.

"Ah, okay, damn it! If you pop my shoulders out, Kakashi's gunna be pissed," he protested.

The sensei blushed at the sound of his own name. Even though it wasn't spoken for him it was done in such a husky voice that he couldn't help it.

"Okay…" she nearly purred. "But it's going to cost you," she informed as she started to ease up.

He already knew that but gave a sigh of relief anyway when the forced tension in his arms started to wane. "Let me taste you," he offered, knowing it was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, she would greatly enjoy it but on the other, it would mean giving him considerably more leeway than he was currently being allowed.

Kakashi smirked at Sasuke's quick thinking. It was a good move but would she take the bait?

She laughed a little at him, but by that point, they knew that it didn't really mean anything. It seemed to be more like one of the ways her body dealt with the stranger effects of her chakra control. "Let you? When you say it like that, you make it sound like it's more for you than it is for me," she pointed out playfully.

Sasuke cringed at his own words as they were used against him. "You know what I mean," he snapped has harshly as he could.

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean…possibly even better than you do," she continued. "But I do like your suggestion," she agreed and dismounted. She only let go of his hands for a second while she moved around so that his face was between her legs. "So get to work," she ordered, spreading her legs wide inches from his wide eyes.

That was the first time in a long time that Sasuke felt the snapping in his brain and this time it was strong enough to reverberate throughout his entire body. Before he knew what he was doing, his tongue was inside her and she was moaning for him. Even when he did realize, it didn't seem to make much difference because he was perfectly content with where he was and what he was doing. He could feel her pleasure rushing and coursing through him and even though he was almost painfully aroused already, he still wanted so much more.

However, as the rush of orgasm started to approach, her clarity started to wane and he could feel the time of opportunity quickly approaching. The question then became a matter of timing, and hoping that she hadn't weakened him too severely in the meantime. In fact, she was so in his head by that point that he almost waited too long. He barely stopped in time.

Calixta squealed and kicked with rage and denial. "You bastard!" she scream but only received a vicious bite on her inner thigh for it. However, she had no way of dislodging him that didn't involve letting go of his hands.

Sasuke snickered and then made his real move. He didn't bother trying to free his hands. Instead, he tried to use it to his advantage. She had positioned him with his head between her thighs and his arms reaching upward to meet hers on the outside of her legs. This allowed him to lunge upward and double her over beneath him at the same time.

She gasped at his sudden motion and so much of her wanted him to do as he pleased that her body easily moved the way he wanted it to. This was actually quite fortunate for her because with the amount of leverage he had against her, if she had decided to fight him, they could have injured her. He always appreciated how flexible she was, physically or otherwise, and this was no exception.

"You're wavering already?" he scoffed.

She laughed. "You haven't won yet so don't try to tell me what to do."

"But if you cum now then you've given up my prize before I even had a chance to win it. That's hardly fair," he reasoned.

She groaned at his logic and tried futilely to push back against him. "You never said you wanted my first orgasm," she playfully complained.

"I would expect nothing less," he growled.

"Then I will give you nothing more," she snapped back. "That is, if you win. Otherwise, I intend to lose track of the number of times I peak while riding you," she bragged.

"I'd say it looks like I have won," he countered, challenging her to prove otherwise.

"No! It's not over yet," she insisted and weakly struggled against him.

He laughed at her and pinned her even more firmly. "Admit it, you lost this one, not that you didn't give it a really good try. There were a couple times when I really thought you had me there," he complimented.

She could sense that he was absolutely sure of his victory. "Not yet," she pleaded desperately.

He snickered and gave her another second to fight but only because it gave him the opportunity to gloat. "Look on the bright side, at least I licked your pussy first. That was really nice of me," he tauntingly reasoned.

Calixta moaned a little and arched her back, pressing her body more firmly against his. "Y-You really…think you got me, don't you?" she inquired with a husky voice.

Sasuke pulled back just a little get a better look at her face.

"Remember when you used to be intimidated by my abilities?" she mused almost sadly.

"Tch, you're the one who encouraged me to become desensitized to that kind of thing," he dismissed.

"When did you get so comfortable around me?" she asked, her gaze growing distant.

Her behavior unnerved him but he was about to make the same mistake as earlier and let up on her. "It took a while but you're right."

Calixta gave a heavy sigh and let her eyes slide shut. This time, she was allowed more than a couple full breaths before being forced to take action. She had one more ace up her sleeve and it was time to use it.

"So, you gunna admit it or am I going to have to drag it out of you?" he asked hopefully as he leered down at her. By this point, her milk had let down and soaked the whole front of her dress, letting him see every detail of her perfectly through the thin fabric.

"You presume too much," she told him in a warning tone as she slowly opened her eyes. He was just about to scoff when she managed to suddenly throw him off of her. It was only when he landed on his butt a few feet away that he felt the duality behind the chakra that had helped propel the unusual motions that freed her.

"What the-?" he barely managed as he tried to regain his bearings, which was difficult with the predatory way she was crawling toward him.

"You're a smart boy. I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, you hate it when I explain things to you anyway," she mused, once again grabbing a hold of his ankle.

Kakashi watched anxiously as Sasuke failed to squirm away from her this time.

"I'm sorry if it disappoints you too greatly, but I am winning this one no matter what your ego thinks," she spat as she started to drag him down the hall.

"What are you doing? Knock it off!" he kicked and tried to grab onto things but it seemed to do no good. His hands were still numb from having so much highly charged chakra coursing through them for so long. "Don't fuckin' drag me around, damn it!"

She laughed at him but that was all the acknowledgement he received as she dragged him into her bedroom.

When she tossed him onto her bed, he couldn't staring at her with wide-eyed shock plastered all over his features.

"Tch, don't look at me like that. You started this," she asserted, climbing on top of him.

Kakashi only missed this last exchange as he tried to find a new place from which to continue his voyeurism unobstructed. Fortunately, Calixta had recently saw fit to switch the rooms she was using for her bedroom and her study. He didn't know that was because of Naruto's peeping incident that she thought it best to move her sleeping area further away from the front door.

Before he could think, she was pulling off his clothes without any sense of hesitation. When he tried to stop her, she simply slapped his hands away.

"You've been so different…ever since-" Sasuke barely spoke, hardly aware of what he was saying at this point, which was why he stopped just as suddenly as he started speaking.

"Since what?" she pressed, forcing eye contact.

Sasuke gasped at the sudden force of chakra he felt pressing in around him. "This isn't fair! You're cheating!" he suddenly tried to protest.

"There is no cheating," she asserted dangerously. "You weren't the only one who taught me that."

Kakashi felt his stomach sink because he knew she was referring to him as well and he found that this revelation made him feel especially deceived because she had always given him the impression that she didn't like that attitude, that it was dishonorable, even inhuman. Apparently, she thought that there were also exceptions to that notion.

"He's not a part of this!" Sasuke protested.

Their peeping sensei was ripped from his more existential thoughts by that outburst. As far as he was aware, they were alone, besides him, and he still considered himself successfully concealed. No, if they were talking about him, they would have looked at the window at least once.

"As far as I'm concerned he's part of everything now. I thought I told you that already," she chided ominously.

"D-Does he know…?" Sasuke stammered, having the force of two different chakras pressing in on him in his state made it very difficult to do much but sit back and weakly question her.

"Know what?" she asked almost childishly when she started toying with his nipples.

"Eegh, don't do that!" he put his hands on her shoulders and tried to push her away but ended up just holding her tightly instead.

"It's hard to say what he knows at this point," she dismissed casually before nipping at his left nipple and moving on to the right. "I'm sure he's aware that I am engaged very intimately at the moment," she assured and then looked around as though she thought she heard something. It was an empty gesture that only served to make Kakashi even more nervous. "By this point, if he's bothered to pay much attention, he probably realizes it's you," she mused.

"How can you do that from so far away?" he demanded.

"It's…difficult to explain," she shrugged before moving down to tease his bellybutton with her tongue. "But I assure you that it is something that I can only do with him," she promised.

That made Sasuke eye her carefully as he considered how strong the connection he had forged with her was and just how far that translated into, meters?, perhaps kilometers?, certainly not the incredible distance that Gaara and Calixta were channeling one another across.

"It's too unfair, even for you. What if I asked someone else for help? You're ganging up on me!" he accused in spite of the tickling in his navel.

She snickered at the 'even for you' part. "I would love to watch you solicit someone else into helping you win our petty little sex game. Who would you call for? And what makes you think that I couldn't take them as well as you?" she bragged.

Kakashi nearly made his presence known without thinking but he managed to cover his mouth before the words came spilling out. In order to compose himself, he ducked back under the window, crouching against the back of her house. Why had he been so utterly compelled to do that? It certainly wasn't something he would want to do without thinking. Was it her fault?

Suddenly it hit him, it was because of something Sasuke sort of danced around when he talked about the mission that first brought their paths together. He had felt like his teammates weren't there for him when he needed them. Could this be another one of those times? On top of that, such an intense impression made him realize that his presence wasn't as secretive as he had originally estimated.

She had to know that he was at least nearby, if not right outside the window. He wondered how long she knew, what had given him away or if there wasn't anything he could have done to stop her from sensing his proximity. He also wondered if Sasuke was aware because of how close they were at the moment.

Then he had to ponder if the compulsion to reveal himself was his own or driven by her, or perhaps even by Sasuke. There was also the likelihood that it was some sort of combination. As he considered his feelings, Kakashi realized that he wanted to come to Sasuke's aid but only if that's what the young man wanted. Otherwise, he felt obliged to let them go, if only because he felt like he was learning so much about them.

Now, he was left to debate what he thought Sasuke would want. Luckily, even though his heart was racing, Kakashi was given a little time to try to decipher the situation on that level because after a tense moment of silence, Sasuke answered her.

"No, don't drag anyone else into this! I want you to stop using power that's not yours…or mine," he added because he knew there was no stopping her from that at this point.

"Oh, but he has freely given it to me," she insisted. "My love and I share our power freely between one another," she boasted, her lips only centimeters from his dripping length.

"That doesn't matter. Have some god damn self control for once!" he berated and it earned him a slap on the cheek hard enough to turn his head.

"Insolent. Ungrateful. Childish," she rambled before ducking back down to suck on the swollen head of his cock.

Sasuke was absolutely furious at the violent assault but what she did after turned his protests into heated moans and frustrated groans of pleasure. It took him several minutes to compose enough of himself to actually speak intelligibly again. "But I don't want Gaara…I want you…" he finally managed.

His sincerity startled her but she tried her best not to show it. "That's very sweet of you. I never realized you were so sentimental," she teased, pausing occasionally to tongue his urethra but then she stopped. "No, you just want a better chance of beating me," she accused. "Not that I blame you," she shrugged and then went back to pleasuring him with her mouth.

That hadn't really been what Sasuke meant but he couldn't deny that would have been one of the perks. "You evil…conniving…wretch of a woman!" He tried lacing his fingers in her hair for some sort of leverage but found himself simply trying to push her mouth further down his length.

With a giggle, she complied and found that if she did that too much, she might lose control of his release and allow him to cum before she was finished with him.

"Stupid…whorish…succubus!" Sasuke continued through gritted teeth.

As he uttered that last taunt, he thought for a moment he might actually be able to cum. No such luck. In a flash, her hands were pulling his away from her hair and his member was slipping from her lips. "Is that why you don't wanna use my power this time? You don't want to be too much like me?" she teased, her hot breath still tickling his slick shaft, making it twitch and jerk erratically.

"I could never be like you!" he spat, trying to gather his bearings.

She laughed at him. "No, I suppose not…but I think it's 'cause you're afraid of losing control of it," she accused as she sat up to get a better look at him. He looked absolutely defenseless, a state that she had never seen him in before and it made her practically awe down at him. "I understand…it's a difficult thing to do."

Sasuke gave a weak scoff. Even without the power of his sharingan, he had been with Calixta enough to know how to react to her chakra with his own. It took some getting used to, but it was fairly easy to utilize her empathic link once she had established it without having to try to create and maintain one of his own. This, of course, left him without control of the intensity of the link as well as a number of other variables that she had gotten quite good at manipulating, better than he thought she was.

That's when Calixta did something that neither Sasuke nor Kakashi expected. She showed her partner a moment of mercy. With a gentle smile, she snaked her hand behind his neck and helped him sit up. Then, without so much as a moments hesitation, she continued to motion until his lips were at her breast.

"I don't want your charity," he grumbled against her skin. Even just from that, he could taste her sweet milk mixed with the tangy taste of her sweat that coated her skin.

"You need a pick me up or neither of us is going to be very satisfied," she informed curtly.

"You just wanna break," he accused.

That made her give a look of warning downward at him. She didn't want to force him to drink from her but if he was going to be that stubborn about it, she was willing to do it. "Drink it," she ordered, "or I'll leave you here like this and find someone else to satisfy me."

"You wouldn't dare!" he growled.

"Impudent," she muttered and used some of her influence to cause the snapping again and he was eagerly suckling her breasts in no time. After that, she was content to finish pulling her dress down far enough to allow him to comfortably work and sit wordlessly as they both took a moment to catch their breath and rethink their situation.

Kakashi wasn't allowed such a liberty. Their sudden change in mood startled him and made him watch even more closely, if that was possible. After they found their rhythm, they appeared completely comfortable with their situation, almost eerily so. However, it didn't last.

Calixta was content to let the moment pass peacefully but she could tell Sasuke desired otherwise. He didn't want to be comfortable. He wanted tension. So, with a sigh, she leaned back a little on her left hand and reached for her night stand. He tried to follow her but her nipple popped from her lips and squirted him in the face. Just as he was about to call her out for being so inconsiderate, she resumed her former, more accommodating, position.

Indignantly, Sasuke refused to latch on again. He wanted to see what she thought was so important to risk stopping him. It was her purse and from it, she withdrew a small, silver cigarette case. He made a face of childish disgust as he frowned upward at her.

"Isn't this what you came over here for in the first place? In fact, you promised you'd be here by noon," she complained.

The reminder of that promise as well as his tardiness at the hands of their mutual sensei motivated Sasuke to resume, and even more eagerly than before.

"But I suppose we both got a little distracted," she mused, lighting her cigarette and making sure to blow the smoke toward the window.

With a grumble, Kakashi ducked back down. As interesting and informative as it was to visually observe them, if she was directing her smoke toward the same opening he was using to spy on them, he couldn't risk using it. There was too great a chance that one of them would actually catch a glimpse of him. So, he reluctantly crouched beneath the window to stay out of sight and listen.

Calixta continued to relax as she smoked, ashing her cigarette in a special little compartment in the case. She knew that was one of her habits that really irritated him because the only reason he had to get her to stop was that he despised the smell. At first, he tried to argue that even though she might be able to regenerate the physical damage caused by smoking, that he did not possess such an ability and didn't want to fall victim to her second-hand smoke. However, since he was being healed by her at the same time, as she pointed out, it most likely canceled any of those more nasty side effects. At least she was considerate enough not to blow it in his face.

It wasn't until he switched breasts that he spoke to her again. "I'm a little surprised you waited for me," he mused.

"I decided you were worth waiting for today," she shrugged.

"How considerate. How did I ever get into your good graces?" he sarcastically questioned while his lips and tongue teased her nipple.

She tired not to squirm from his erotic teasing. "Must've been the way you smiled at me when you thought I wasn't lookin'," she teased back.

Sasuke was starting to feel his energy really start to return and it was making him bold so he started sucking harder, even harder than he knew was comfortable for her. It made her make indignant sounds of discomfort but she tolerated it until he bit her.

"Ow! Hey!" she protested but he did it again. "You little shit-head!" she scolded, smacking him on the side of the head.

He snickered and brought his hands up to start harshly teasing both her nipples at once. She squealed and kicked but did little more than cause herself more pain in the process because he wasn't letting go.

"Inconsiderate ass! That really fuckin' hurts!" she raved.

That didn't deter him. In fact, he was extremely excited by the fact that she was genuinely angry with him. He grinned greedily at her as his hand moved from one of her nipples to her clitoris to apply the same kind of brutal attentions.

Then, suddenly, a rage flared behind her eyes that he had never seen before. There were moments when it had burned hotter, but they were few and far between, and not something he had witnessed so closely. Of course, it didn't hurt one bit to have Gaara's chakra boosting her own. That's when she did something he never expected her to do. He felt a sharp pain in his groin that made him buckle, doubling over in pain.

As he gasped for breath, she snickered, "I suppose I didn't have to show you all of what that felt like…but I did want to get my point across."

As the pain subsided, Sasuke scowled up at her. "And what might that be?"

The grin that slowly formed on her lips would have put the Cheshire cat to shame and Sasuke thought for a moment that his heart was going to stop. Also, by this point, Kakashi had decided it was safe to at least peek back inside. He was absolutely horrified by her expression. If she had ever looked at him like that, he thought he would be compelled to run for his life.

When she couldn't smile any wider, Calixta slowly started to lean down over him, reveling in the way he instinctively moved away from her to avoid physical contact until he was once again lying down on her bed. She stopped only when their bodies were mere millimeters apart. "My point is…" she reached a careful hand up to his face.

Naturally, Sasuke flinched as her fingers approached his cheek.

"That I can show you ecstasy so intense that it'll bring a tear to your eye," she bragged as she wiped the single drop that had formed in the corner of his eye during the moment of transferred pain.

Sasuke couldn't believe the way he trembled at the minute touch and the tiny little electrical sparks as her finger brushed lightly against his skin. He gasped, nearly saying her name but his voice failed him. He felt absolutely trapped, pinned by this beautiful and strong woman with a disturbing amount of control over him. As he tried to catch his breath, his mind raced. How had he let this happen? Did he even _let_ it happen? He felt his stomach sink and his heart flutter when he realized that this time, it was all her. She was making this happen. The only thing that could stop her now was if he truly and deeply felt the need to stop.

In this, Sasuke felt his feelings betray him. So much of him was excited, titillated by her at this point that even the thought of ending their encounter now almost made him sick to his stomach. "Y-You're so evil…" he muttered and then before she could respond, he pressed his lips against hers and she was finally laying down on top of him.

Kakashi breathed an almost audible sigh of relief at their embrace, probably because it was one of the few moments when it seemed like they were cooperating, rather than competing. However, her words disturbed him just as much as her grin did before.

When their kiss broke, Sasuke's head was spinning and his hands had found their way to her generous curves. "Okay…I give…" he panted.

She beamed down at him and gave him an affectionate kiss on the forehead. "I know," she haughtily replied but only because she knew it would aggravate her partner.

Kakashi gaped. He hadn't expected Sasuke to say it so easily, if he had been the one to say it. There was almost a practiced ease behind the young man's words.

Then followed the only moment that assured Kakashi that she was well aware of him. She pulled up from Sasuke and looked around as though she had heard something, which she hadn't. But then, she locked her eyes on the cracked window. She couldn't see Kakashi but she knew he was there.

When she first sensed him draw near, she didn't think anything of it. People came and went all the time and she didn't waste her energy trying to keep track of them. Kakashi was something of an exception. When he got close, she took notice and this time she noticed that once he got close, he stayed that distance from her. Again, she tried to shrug this off in favor of paying attention to her guest.

But before long, she began to wonder if he was watching them. That was why she moved them from the kitchen to her bedroom. If he followed then he had to be watching them. It really bothered her that he would do such a thing at first but Sasuke continued to be an effective distraction and she was able to largely push it out of her mind.

If Kakashi had bothered to ask her later if she had compelled him to step forward when she and Sasuke briefly discussed someone coming to help him, she would have admitted to influencing him. However, she had actually compelled his hesitation so that he wouldn't interfere with their moment.

Now the game was over, they were ready to move onto other things, and she felt that would be a good time for their sensei to make his discrete exit. No such luck.

"What is it?" Sasuke suddenly ask, making Kakashi hold is breath.

She gave her partner a critical look. "I thought I heard something," she lied and then hopped off the bed to close the window the rest of the way and make sure the curtains were completely closed.

Kakashi sighed, stayed for another few minutes while he collected his thoughts, and left.

Then, Calixta scampered back over to the bed, hopping back on top of Sasuke. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes. You were just surrendering to me," she playfully recalled.

Sasuke grumbled and rolled his eyes. "This time," he amended.

"Of course. I would be very disappointed with you if you fell for the same tricks more than once," she teased. "That's what makes you so much fun," she flattered. "Well…it's not the only thing."

Sasuke was about to reply but then she started to rub her wetness on his throbbing length.

"Now, remember, all you have to do when you want to cum is scream my name, got it?" she chided.

He grumbled again but it quickly turned into a barely repressed moan as she continued to grind against him. Before long, he thought he was going to go insane from the way she was rubbing against him and clawing at his chest, her cries of abandon filling her small bedroom.

She came like that with a heated squeal a short while later. As the euphoria set in, she giggled foolishly, as she had a habit of doing sometimes. It was something that had unnerved Sasuke to no end at first, because he thought it made her sound like she was mad. Then, as he started to get used it, he thought it occasionally sounded mocking, and started to consider it more of an annoyance than anything. It was only recently that he realized that his first impression was probably more correct but it didn't bother him anymore. In fact, he had grown to greatly enjoy the little sound that bubbled up from her when she was so happy that she could hardly contain herself.

Before he could reflect on that further, she was starting to slide down his length. Without thinking, he grasped her hips to help maintain her balance as her head thrashed fitfully from side to side as she slowly sheathed him. She came a second time before their hips met and he could feel her dripping down the remained of his length as it happened. Before that wave could pass, he thrust his hips upward the rest of the way. The sudden extra push made her throw her head back as she moaned his name.

Once they found their rhythm again, Sasuke actually got a moment to look at the woman riding him so hard he thought his hips might break. Her long hair was sticking to her face and back with sweat. Her little sundress was bunched up around her waist; he could see it sticking to her skin from the sweat, milk, and cum. He watched her eyes roll around in random directions when she came for him a third time. Then, he noticed something.

He hadn't exactly finished what he started, or what he had come to her house to do in the first place, which left one of her breasts slightly, but noticeably larger than the other. He snickered a little at the sight as he reached up with one hand to give her a squeeze. Her nipples were still dripping with milk, so he knew it wouldn't take much to get them to squirt.

Calixta gasped and bucked a little harder. Sure the attention was rude, but so was he and she had come to expect that kind of thing from him. When he didn't think he could get any further distance from her, even during orgasm, he let up on that in favor of finishing the task with his mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and let her head droop a little but her pace didn't slow.

Once Sasuke was sure she was completely empty, he sat back to admire his work. He actually preferred her breasts smaller, which was apparently an oddity among her partners, but that wasn't to say he didn't enjoy helping her express her milk, at least on some level. And he never really bothered to hide the fact that a dark little part of him liked the idea that they could be so cumbersome for her. Regardless, he liked what he saw, especially the way her puffy, swollen nipples stood out toward him.

With a grin, he decided that now that his work was done, it was time to play. So, he went back to teasing her breasts with his mouth, keeping a firm grip on her generous hips, in case she decided to buck a little too hard. It had happened before. Occasionally, he would do something that provoked such a visceral reaction from her that the spasm that followed cost them her balance. Once, she even fell off the bed, but not this time.

Calixta's nipples were so sensitive at this point that even the slightest little flick from his warm, soft tongue made her breath catch. Once she couldn't take it anymore, she unwrapped her arms from around him and cupped the sides of his face. It took a bit of effort, but she managed to coax him away from there in favor of another heated kiss.

It was only when the pain of repression started to outweigh the pleasure she was giving him, that he considered speaking her name. "Aaah…nnngh," was all he could manage at first but she could tell what he was going for.

"Ah, yes! Sasuke! Yes!" she encouraged greedily because by this point she wanted his release almost as badly as he did.

However, her encouragement was ill received, as it often was, and it took several more minutes before he could speak the three syllables that would facilitate his relief. "Ca-ah..Calixta…" he finally blurted out as loudly as he could. His voice was horse and he wondered if it would be enough to satisfy her.

Fortunately, it was because she could feel his body screaming with the intensity that his voice lacked. She gave a fitful nod and held on tightly as she let go of her control over him. Immediately, she felt him pulsing inside her, which facilitated her final orgasm.

Once they were finished, they collapsed back onto the bed, not caring who was laying on who. Before Sasuke could regain much of his sense, he felt her lightly kissing her way up his arm, then to his face, only stopping after she planted a warmly firm kiss on his lips.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but gave her a hug anyway. Then, she suddenly took his hands in hers and started to lightly rub herself against his thigh. Before he could speak, she started to lightly moan. "Wh-What are you doing?" he asked lazily when he could feel their chakras stirring again.

"You're not done yet," she whispered against his chest and about a minute later, she came one more time and as his vision faded to black, Sasuke could hear her say, "There we go," in a very satisfied voice.

Sasuke didn't start to regain consciousness until she was cleaning them off with a warm, damp towel. When his eyes fluttered open, he found her beaming down at him.

"Eleven minutes," she commented, "not bad."

"Huh?" he blinked up at her.

"That's how long you were out for," she bragged.

"Oh…"

"How to you feel?" she questioned curiously.

He actually paused for a moment before answering, which pleased her immensely. "Surprisingly good," he admitted.

"You may sleep here if you like," she offered genuinely.

With a sigh, Sasuke sat up. "No, but thanks," he politely declined.

Within the hour, he was gone and she was asleep.


	26. Running out of time

Calixta took the initiative late the following morning and went to visit with Kakashi. But that was all the further she was going to push it, figuring he was going to say something to her anyway. She figured it was more polite to let him do it so she simply began their conversation by telling Kakashi which dates she had picked for their travel to the Sand Village.

"Thank you," he took the piece of paper with the information on it and slipped it into one of his pockets. "Actually, if you have the time, there is one other thing I wanted to talk to you about," he broached carefully.

Calixta gave a gentle, if only slightly annoyed, smile. "I had a feeling you might."

Kakashi gave a thoughtful sigh. "I don't think I have to tell you that I saw what happened between you and Sasuke yesterday," he began.

She nodded. "But you can tell me how long you were watching us," she chided.

"Uh, you were still in the kitchen…and you were bickering rather viciously at the time," he replied.

She nodded with understanding but definitely not approval. "Was it a good show?" she countered.

"Umm…I would certainly say it was informative," he managed.

She rolled her eyes.

"You had me completely convinced that you were the worst ninja ever," he stated, his wounded pride starting to show.

"Then that is what I am," she conceded.

"Not after what I saw yesterday. You were deceptive, manipulative, and down right tricky and you did it very well," he half-complimented.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," she dismissed.

"That's exactly how it looked from where I was standing," he asserted. "When did you start to do that? How long have you been deceiving me about your capabilities?" he pressed.

She faltered at that. She hadn't expected him to feel quite that way about it. "I-I don't know. It's not like it happened all at once…but I think I told you a long time ago that I like being underestimated," she pointed out.

"This is different," he argued. "I am your sensei. I have an implicit right to know exactly what you're capable of."

That made her laugh a little. "I thought your job was to help me fit in to your society?"

"That is part of my mission," he conceded. "But it doesn't change the facts."

She sighed. "I didn't really even think about it at first. In a way, I think I was hiding things from you so that you wouldn't push me any harder than you already do. I know it probably wasn't the right attitude to have but I wanted to do something at my own pace for once. Besides, it's not like I was on some dumb covert mission to assassinate somebody," she dismissed.

"But you very well could have been," he grumbled under his breath.

"And you don't fully understand what was happening between us at the time. Sure, I bet you saw a lot, but there was more going on than what could be seen," she half-teased.

"Enlighten me," he dryly encouraged.

"As you wish. Though, I would like to point out that in spite of all those bitter little feelings you have, I let you see what you saw yesterday. Once I realized you were watching or even just nearby, I could have stopped everything there. I could have just given into Sasuke, even if it would greatly annoy him, and continue to only show you my weaker side." He appeared unimpressed so she continued. "I'll admit that it took some genuine deception and manipulation to pull off what I did but at the same time…I was really only acting out of Sasuke's deeper desires."

"You're blaming all that on Sasuke?" Kakashi scoffed.

"I could lay some of the blame on you as well. It seems that since your birthday, a little part of him has become fascinated by the idea of being dominated by someone. Of course, he can't just let someone do that to him. He's far too strong and too willful for that. So, I had fight for every inch of progress in overtaking him as I did."

Kakashi disliked the blame placed on him even more than that placed on his male student. "So, you're saying that you were only doing what he wanted you to do?"

She nodded confidently. "I'm not really sure he had even really realized that was what he wanted, which made it difficult at first to figure out. That's why we bickered for so long," she reasoned. "But I could tell by the way he was antagonizing me that he wanted me to step it up and if I was going to do that, I was going all the way. Anything less and I would have failed."

"You really scared him when you faked unconsciousness like you did," he chided.

"It wasn't really a fake-out. I let everything go black for a few seconds so he'd let up on me," she answered.

"And what about Gaara?" he pressed.

"What about him?" she offhandedly replied. "Our connection is even stronger than I thought. I knew before I tried it that even just sensing his chakra would give me an extra boost but honestly, I didn't expect to channel him the way I did. It was very…invigorating."

"Sasuke was right. It was really unfair," he pointed out.

"And who are you to lecture me on the finer points of fairness?" she retorted bitterly. "Besides, I offered to let him ask for help from someone else. I even gave you a chance to come rushing to his rescue," she taunted.

"Why did you do that anyway?" he questioned seriously. He was starting to understand that it was a tactical move on her part but she rarely liked dragging others into her personal encounters.

"It was a concession," she admitted. "If there is one thing I have learned very well here it is when to make a concession and just how much to risk. Of course, I already knew he wouldn't take the bait and even if he did, if he had chosen just about anybody but you, or Master Jiraiya, who he wouldn't dream of asking, at that point I think I would have been able to keep good on my threat to charm them both."

He nodded at her bow to his resistance to her abilities.

"I can sense that this whole thing greatly disturbs you," she noted. "Is it really because you feel like I betrayed you?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "It's just as much that as I'm disappointed in myself for continuing to underestimate you after all this time. I suppose it makes you an even better ninja to have been able to keep it from me for this long."

"You're just lucky I let you stay as long as you did. If Sasuke had seen you, it would have ruined everything," she complained. "I think your problem is that you don't want to see Sasuke that way. If you had gotten there a little sooner, you would have seen that he was the one who started the argument that led to what you saw. He did most of the name-calling, if only to provoke me into aggravating him even more," she babbled.

"Maybe I'm just surprised that would be something Sasuke would actually want," he tried.

She laughed a little. "Oh, just between you and me, he wanted it…and pretty badly too…and the only way he would let himself enjoy it is if I took it from him kicking and screaming the entire way," she bragged.

He was still unnerved that she was capable of such a thing.

"He has this peculiar habit, you might have noticed it," she smirked. "Sometimes he really likes to say the exact opposite of what he's thinking. He likes to lie to me because he_ knows_ I'll be able to tell. Actually, I've found that's one of the easiest things for me to do now, probably thanks to him."

"To sense a lie? I thought sensing attraction was your forte," he presumed.

"It still is but it seems I've discovered something else as well," she conceded. "It goes back to that dial versus switch thing I told you about. Attraction is subtle, or it's supposed to be. Either someone's lying or they're not and those little white lies, lies of omission, and everything in between, they register with the same middle degree," she explained.

"I see," he muttered even though he was only beginning to understand. "All things considered, I think that it would be best to keep our visit under wraps until we get there. If we can find a way to let you spend at least a little time with Gaara…and Shukaku if you have to, then I think things will work out for the better. Unfortunately, I don't think that's something that will be very easy to hide for very long," he reasoned.

"Whatever you think is best. You may think I am a good ninja now but I am not practiced in planning these kinds of events as you are," she bowed a little.

He did agree with that and promised to work out the finer details closer to their departure.

* * *

About a month later, Kakashi was standing rather nervously across the desk from a very annoyed and overworked Tsunade.

"Let me get this straight. You want permission to take your team on a mission so that one of your students can go on a date?" she incredulously questioned.

"Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound as important," he admitted sheepishly.

"Then how would you put it?" she pressed.

"Tsunade-sama, if Calixta doesn't get to see Gaara and let out Shukaku, the demon has threatened not only her life but maybe even those around her," he insisted.

"She had no right to make that kind of deal," she asserted.

"She only did it because he was going to kill her if she didn't make some sort of compensation and demons always ask a high price for failure. If Baki didn't so staunchly disapprove of their relationship, it wouldn't be an issue," he pointed out.

"I'm not convinced his disproval is entirely misplaced," she grumbled. "And you sound convinced that if she does get him let out again, he won't just rampage," she presumed.

"I am convinced that he won't. They have a very special relationship and I think it's worth the effort, the risk," he continued.

She let him leave after that without her decision. She wanted the extra time to go over his plan and what information she could find on the girl.

Eventually, she decided to let them go and that she would follow them without telling them to make sure nothing went too badly. If it had been anybody but Gaara, she would have tossed the whole thing aside. She knew that he needed to be reigned in and if Calixta had the ability to do that, it would benefit everyone.

* * *

On the day they were to leave for the sand village, Calixta stopped by Kiba's home to thank him again for sending her letter. Then, she went to the gate to find Kakashi and the rest of his team waiting for her. She was disappointed that he had chosen to bring his three more normal students along but tried to hid it.

"Looks like everyone's here. Let's get going," Kakashi started to lead them out.

"Kakashi-sensei, I appreciate the moral support but I don't know how much help the others are going to be on this mission," she tried speaking in his language in hopes of being better understood.

"I think you're wrong," he argued simply.

"Naturally," she sighed. "But if any one of us is seen in the Sand Village then the whole plan goes to shit. The way I see it, the more people we have, the greater chance there is of something like that happening," she reasoned.

"I told you she wouldn't want us," Sasuke scoffed. The comment was directed at his teammates but he made sure it was loud enough for the older pair to hear him as well.

She gave a sigh of irritation and regret. She genuinely appreciated their presence but her concern was equally genuine.

"I had a feeling…" Sakura grumbled under her breath.

"Kakashi-sensei said it was our mission to go," Naruto pointed out.

Calixta nodded.

"I understand your concern," Kakashi addressed her, "but I think it would be safer to at least travel in numbers. I want to be well rested when we get there," he informed.

"Yes, sensei," she reluctantly agreed.

When Kakashi left to secure the perimeter for their first camp, Sasuke couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"I just don't see why we have to come along for this too. It's not like either of them is going to want us or anybody else around anyway. And like she said, as soon as somebody sees even one of us, our cover is totally blown!" he ranted.

"I'm sure Sensei has a reason for bringing us along," Naruto tried to reason.

"I just wish he'd tell us the real reason he wanted us along," Sakura grumbled.

"That would be nice," Sasuke bitterly agreed.

"Maybe he really only does want us along for the trip there and back. I mean, having a few extra people along just to travel with is always nice," Naruto tried to reason.

Sasuke almost punched his teammate. "Don't be so dense. It's never that simple, not with Kakashi-sensei and especially not when Calixta's involved," he snapped.

"I think that's enough," Calixta suddenly interjected.

"I don't wanna hear any of your crap right now either. If you could handle your affairs half as well as you pretend to, we wouldn't have gotten dragged into this mess!" he yelled.

"Look, I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here. I _appreciate_ that you're here, especially since you don't want to be. I hope everything goes over as quietly as possible so you have to deal with as little as possible," she tried.

"M-Maybe we should talk about something else," Sakura suggested.

"I think Sasuke's jealous," Naruto chided.

"Naruto!" Sasuke and Calixta both exclaimed.

The blonde snickered.

"That is absolutely outrageous!" Calixta protested.

"Take that back!" Sasuke ordered of his blonde teammate.

"I mean after what happened when you first met, I can understand how it might bother you," Naruto playfully tried to reason but his good nature was ill received.

"Naruto," Calixta eyed him dangerously. "Most of the reason that happened was because the two of you weren't there for him when he needed you," she finally snapped. "Don't turn on each other this time as well," she stormed off and finished making their dinner. She hardly had any before going to bed.

None of them spoke a word of their conversation but Kakashi could tell when he returned that something was wrong. However, he had more important things to worry about and pushed it aside.

"Sasuke," Sakura carefully broached when she came to relieve him of his watch.

"Good, you're here. I'm beat," he stood.

Then she did something he didn't really expect. Apparently, Calixta's words had hit home for the young girl. "Please forgive me!" she suddenly burst out, bowing deeply to him.

"Sakura," he was taken aback by her at first. "Tch. That was a long time ago. Forget about it," he dismissed.

"I didn't realize you felt that way. She never even hinted to me that you would have rather we interfere," she defended.

"It's okay. I forgive you," he finally said, if only to get her to stop apologizing. "None of us had much control over what happened so don't worry about it, okay?"

She gave a confident nod and took her place by the fire.

The following morning, Sasuke had a similar conversation with Naruto.

"Hey, sorry we didn't do anything to help you on that mission. I didn't even realize there was anything wrong," the blonde admitted regretfully.

"That was most of the problem," Sasuke grumbled, not even looking at the one speaking to him.

"But if you had just said something-" Naruto tried to reason but was interrupted.

Sasuke suddenly stood from packing up his things and stared down his more rambunctious comrade. "First of all, I shouldn't have had to say anything. Second, are you touched? What the hell was I supposed to tell you?"

"Uh-er, I dunno. Anything would have been good," he tried to reason but when he was ignored, he went back to his own duties.

* * *

The rest of their travel was uneventful. After that first night, Kakashi noticed a slight easing in his three primary students and understood that to mean whatever sort of bickering they had left the village with, it had been worked out by now. This was very good because as they drew closer to the Village Hidden in the Sand, Calixta grew increasingly anxious. She started to become withdrawn, hardly speaking to any of them unless spoken to. She spent most of her time staring straight ahead of them. Though, her stare wasn't a vacant stare. Her eyes were sharp, as though she was looking for something far off in the distance. For the most part, the others were content to let her be, to allow her to prepare for her ordeal in her own way.

However, on the night before their arrival, Calixta decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. She had been planning to sneak away and get to the village ahead of her party from the very beginning, another reason why the extra three individuals made her life a little more difficult. So, she bided her time and when she thought it was safe, she snuck out of her tent.

Unfortunately for her, Sakura was especially vigilant that evening and caught her.

"Where are you going?" she asked quietly through the darkness, her whispered voice masking the irritation in her tone.

"Damn it," Calixta cursed under her breath. "Well, I was trying to get a head start on you guys but it looks like I'm out of luck in that department," she sighed.

"Why don't you just go back to sleep? It sounds like you're going to need the rest anyway," Sakura reasoned.

"I can't sleep right now. There's too much going on, too much about to happen. Look, I won't try to get away if you come away from the fire to sit and talk with me while you're on watch," she bargained.

Sakura nodded in agreement and they sat down on the ground a few meters away from the camp, close enough for Sakura to still watch but far enough away that their voices wouldn't wake the others.

She tried to get the older girl to talk about what was going to happen or maybe say more about their first meeting but no such luck. The older woman seemed intent to ramble aimlessly, much go Sakura's dismay. Usually, when they spoke, Calixta was very polite and considerate. However, sometimes, usually when she was under a lot of stress, she started to babble, making almost no sense.

What Sakura didn't know was that this time Calixta was doing it on purpose to assure the younger girl that she was in no state to go wandering off on her own. After about an hour of that, Calixta stood and brushed herself off.

"Thank you Sakura-san," she smiled and offered a hand to help the other girl up. It was happily accepted but before she even realized what was happening, Calixta had her in a choke hold.

"C-Calixta…don't do this…" Sakura managed to choke out.

"Don't wake too quickly," the young woman prayed a moment before Sakura lost consciousness. Knowing that it probably wouldn't last, she pulled a piece of paper out of her purse, scribbled onto it a sleeping script, and stuck it to Sakura's forehead. As soon as she was sure it would stay, she was gone, leaving Satu to guard the camp in her place.

Naruto was the first to wake, as it was his turn for the final watch, and happened to do so a little early but since there was no sense in trying to sleep for another hour, he decided to go talk to Sakura instead. However, once he sat up he had a strangely apprehensive feeling. Confused, he threw back his blanket and crawled out of his tent. The fire was dying and Sakura was nowhere in sight.

The blonde felt his heart skip a beat, "Sakura-chan?" he called carefully but received no response. Worried, he went looking. It didn't take long to find her. "Oh, no," he gasped and ran to Calixta's tent to find it empty. "Sensei!" he rushed over to Kakashi's tent and threw open the little door. "Sensei! Calixta's gone!"

"What?" Kakashi sat up immediately. "What happened?" he demanded, making his way out to survey the situation.

This commotion had awoken Sasuke who also emerged from his sleeping place to find out what was going on. He followed them to where Sakura was sleeping.

"Damn it!" Kakashi swore loudly, tearing the piece of paper off Sakura's forehead, watching her eyes flutter open immediately.

"Calixta, no!" Sakura yelled as she sat upright. When she saw the three concerned faces peering down at her she knew what happened. "I'm so sorry I let her get away," she bowed deeply, pressing her forehead against the ground.

"Get up and tell me what happened," Kakashi ordered evenly.

As they quickly packed up their things, Sakura told them about what happened.

"I didn't realize what she was doing…She caught me completely by surprise," Sakura admitted.

"It's not your fault. All things considered, you did well," Kakashi praised in spite of his racing mind. "The important thing now is that we catch up with her before she gets to the village." He couldn't help grumbling. He knew that Sakura was largely immune to Calixta's powers of attraction but apparently that wasn't as much of an obstacle as it used to be. From the sounds of things, she had confused and tired Sakura before making her very decisive move. He also scolded himself for teaching her so many scripts after finding out how much she loved to write. She had the perfect handwriting for it.

It was the second night of the festival and she managed to buy a long, concealing cloak from one of the first shops she saw and get lost in the crowd. She had to find Gaara before anyone found her. Then, she had a better idea. She would find a suitable place to meet and then call him to her. That was likely to get her better results.

She considered finding an out of the way place to reunite face to face but reasoned that was impossible with the village being as crowded as it was. So she went for the opposite approach. She chose one of the busiest spots she could find. She found that, even though they were much closer to her in terms of physical distance, the incredible number of people made it difficult for them to find one another but, with enough time, he did zero in on her, finding her sitting off to the side of a rather busy pub, still blanketed in her cloak of anonymity.

* * *

Gaara tried to contain his excitement when Kankuro first delivered her message but since he was only in the company of his brother, he couldn't help smiling, even laughing with glee at the audacity.

"Baki-sensei's not gunna be very happy when he sees her," he pointed out.

"He's not very happy about anything," Gaara dismissed. "And it sounds like if this works out, he won't know she's here for quite a while," he grinned as he burned the letter.

"Well, you know I won't say anything. I've had just about enough of manual labor for one lifetime," Kankuro grumbled.

Suddenly Gaara grew serious. "Kankuro…thank you for delivering this message." Then he saw his brother out.

Then, the problem became containing his anxiety as he felt her approach. The first time, when Baki had invited her, he didn't bother to hide most of the outward signs of his excitement but this time was much different. He felt that if he even showed a twitch of difference, their plans would be foiled. Fortunately, being as reclusive and standoffish as he was came in handy for maintaining that kind of façade.

Then, Gaara found it incredibly frustrating that once he knew she was nearby, he had trouble locating her. Though, he was at this point taking for granted the fact that they could do such a thing.

As soon as he saw her, he rushed over to her, threw back the hood of her cloak, and gave her the warm embrace that he had been holding onto since they parted.

"Oh, Ai-sama, I missed you so much," she raved between kisses.

"We need to find some place a little more private," he urged.

She nodded and they exited together. By this point, they were both so immersed in one another that they didn't bother to hide her presence anymore, a fatal mistake. One of Baki's other underlings caught sight of them as they were leaving and ran straight to the young ninja's sensei who managed to head them off on their way to Gaara's house.

"Stop right there!" he called as he parted the crowd of people. "Right now!"

The couple froze.

"That's right! How the hell did you get here?" he demanded as he approached.

"Gaara!" she gasped. "You have to do it now," she urged.

"What?" the teen questioned her sudden request long enough for Baki to get close enough to pull them apart.

"Now, you have to do it now! If you don't then…then I came here for nothing!" she pleaded desperately.

"What does she want you to do?" Baki demanded of his student, not caring that by this point they had drawn the attention of everyone within earshot.

"I-She wants-I'm supposed to-" he stammered.

"Don't explain it! Just weave the sign and let go!" she continued to yell. "You've already defied him, don't give up halfway!"

"You! I've had just about enough of you!" Baki reeled back to slap the woman now literally trying to wedge herself between him and his student but he was stopped halfway by a strong hand on his arm.

"What the-?" Baki turned to find his Kazekage holding him back. "K-Kazekage…" he barely managed as he let his arm fall and he gave a bow of respect.

"Baki, why are you about to strike this woman? She is barely half your size," the old man questioned seriously.

"Sir, this is the woman who has been harassing my students, the one after Gaara," he pointed out.

"I see," he eyed the young woman evenly. She was much quieter now, as was the rest of the crowd, as she barely managed to keep her gaze upon his face. "Regardless of who she is, this is hardly the place or the time for such a dispute." He gave an authoritative motion and started to walk away with the concerned parties behind them.

As they walked, Calixta clung to Gaara, who had all but silenced completely upon the arrival of their leader.

"Get off him!" Baki shoved her away.

"Baki! I know you don't like this woman but you are causing a scene. The people don't need to see you pushing her around like that even if she is as evil as you say she is," the leader reasoned. "But apparently you don't realize that, which is why I had to make myself involved."

"Sir, she shouldn't be here in the first place. I expressly forbid it," he asserted.

"So I've heard," the old man placated. Even if he had more to say, he was cut off by the sound of barking followed by someone calling in the distance.

"Calixta!" Kakashi yelled when he first caught sight of her. Then he noticed who she was with and he felt his heart start to race even faster, making him rush over without warning and leaving his students and their most recent addition, Lady Tsunade who had caught up with them during their mad dash to the village, to catch up with him a moment later.

"Kazekage," the white-haired man gave a polite bow.

"Ah, Kakashi. Am I to understand that this young woman is still your student?" he asked

"Yes, she is."

"I see. Can I assume by your rush that she got away from you?" he continued chidingly.

Kakashi swallowed hard and he felt Calixta's guilt somewhere in the back of his mind. "Yes. That is what happened."

The older man nodded. "And not just you it seems," he mused when he saw the other four approach. "Hokage Tsunade, it is a pleasure to meet you," he greeted when the woman in heals approached.

"Likewise, Kazekage. My only regret is the circumstances. If you like, we can take her back right now," she offered.

Gaara could feel Calixta panic as she held onto him even more tightly, so tightly that he thought he might lose circulation in his arm. He was about to try to ease her, hoping that even just a little reassurance would calm her, when she started to mumble quietly under her breath.

The young ninja's eyes suspiciously darted around but everyone's attention was too fixed on the pair of leaders to pay more than peripheral attention to them at the moment.

"Do it now. Please. Don't waste anymore time. You have to do it now. Now, please," she pleaded so quietly she thought only Gaara could hear.

Unfortunately, Baki was still paying much of his attention to her. "What are you doing?" he demanded, stepping right in front of her.

"She's not doing anything," Gaara argued defensively.

"Then what's she saying? Some kind of spell or just trying to get you to run away with her?" he rudely pressed.

With all the excitement, Calixta's emotions were already in overdrive. On top of that, the heightened emotional states of those around her was only making it more difficult to compose herself. "Now, please," she barely muttered as she started to lightly tremble.

"Baki," Kakashi protectively tried to coax the other man away from his distraught student. "This isn't helping."

Suddenly the Kazekage, irked by their interruption, spoke again, "Yes, now would be a good time to deal with all of this. I don't think that will be necessary for you to take her just yet and as for the circumstances, I would rather meet you over a dispute about love than about war. Both are messy businesses but one usually has less bloody resolutions," he reasoned.

She smiled. "Indeed."

Calixta could hear Sasuke mumbling curses at her as they followed but she didn't acknowledge him. She had too much on her mind already to worry about his petty insults.

"Now," the old leader sat down at his desk, "we need to get this worked out."

"The solution is to enforce my decision," Baki immediately argued.

"I am well aware of your decision and while practical and pragmatic, it doesn't seem to be working," the old man chided, eliciting several snickers in response. "Tell me, Lady Tsunade, I know very little about this young woman who has so thoroughly won over my son. Should I be worried about her?"

She thought for a moment before replying. "Personally, I know her very little but what I do know of Calixta is that she is a kind, generous person. She may step out of line from time to time but not usually without good reason."

"Her reason is to defy me and control Gaara!" Baki argued contemptuously but was ignored.

"So then," he turned to the young woman in question. "What might that reason be?"

Calixta swallowed hard and stepped out from behind Gaara, who until this point she was using as partial cover. "I came here today to…to see Shukaku again," she announced as bravely as she could and she heard gasps from around the room.

Those few who were already aware of her intention were astonished with her brazenness. Those who weren't gaped at her audacity.

"Don't you mean Gaara?" the Kazekage questioned.

"As well as Gaara," she amended.

"That's insane! Kazegage, please, surely you can see she's crazy. Gaara doesn't need that," Baki coached.

The old leader stared evenly at her for a long moment. "Gaara, were you aware of this motive?" he pressed.

"Yes, sir," he nodded.

The Kazekage pursed his lips. "Interesting. Calixta, you are aware of what, exactly, Shukaku is, I assume."

"I do. He is a part of Gaara that cannot and should not be ignored," she asserted, earning another nod.

"Indeed but he is also not to be taken lightly. I want to make sure you understand the gravity of what you're asking for," he curtly reminded but it was ill received.

The look Calixta gave him was almost seething. She hadn't meant to look at him like that but she couldn't help it. "I am also not to be taken lightly," she replied evenly.

After that, the Kazekage wanted to speak alone with Lady Tsunade so he had the two groups of ninja taken to separate rooms, knowing that putting Baki in the same room with Calixta would only lead to more fighting. Unfortunately, at this point, he couldn't justify taking his son from his sensei and left Gaara to keep Baki company during the deliberation.

"I can't believe you went behind my back again for that woman!" Baki raved once the door was closed.

"She went behind your back. I simply followed. I didn't tell her to come here. I haven't even written to her or gotten any letters from her since the last time we saw each other. I just got this note on my doorstep one day, telling me that she was going to try to be here," Gaara argued.

"And you should have told me about that too," Baki growled.

"Why? So you could ruin everything just like you always do?" Gaara childishly complained.

Baki turned back to Gaara and looked him in the eyes. There was a part of him that sorely wished that everything would be as good as his student seemed to think it would. However, his experience told him not to trust the situation or the woman who caused it. "Why can't you see that she's manipulating you?" he took the short teen by the shoulders and shook him.

Gaara just gave a sigh of resignation and shrugged way the older man's grip. "I'm done arguing with you about this. It's not getting either of us anywhere," he grumbled. "Why don't we wait until after we see what Father decides before we waste any more energy?"

"Would you really obey your father?" Baki pressed, genuinely curious.

The young ninja thought about it for a long moment. "I don't think I'm going to have to," he admitted. "But if he's like you and refuses to see the reality of the situation, then I will have to defy him as well."

Baki frowned and took the chair across the room, not looking at or speaking to Gaara until someone came to get them over an hour later.

* * *

"You're here to see Shukaku?" Sasuke raved even before the door to their room was shut.

"You never asked why I was coming," she dismissed, flopping down in one of the overly plush chairs. Satu was on her lap a moment later, having just been delivered, dry and fluffy.

"If I had known that was why, I wouldn't have come on this mission!" he continued to protest.

"Sasuke, please," Kakashi coaxed. "Shouting about it isn't going to solve anything. I think Baki proved that."

"Sensei," Sakura carefully broached. "Did you know she wasn't coming to see Gaara?"

The older man gave each of his student's an even look but only the younger three were actually looking back at him. "Yes, I did. It was why we had to try to keep it such a secret."

"Sensei!" Naruto gave a betrayed gasp.

The other two weren't as surprised by the lie of omission but still glared at him.

"But for now, it seems things are out of our hands. The two Kages are going to hash it out for you," he turned to Calixta, hoping to elicit a response.

"Which is only necessary because it seems that Baki's sole purpose in life is to interfere where he's not wanted," she griped.

Kakashi had also prompted her in hopes of illustrating the gravity behind the fact that it took two village leaders to referee Calixta and Gaara's relationship.

"What do you think they'll say?" Naruto finally asked.

"I'm not sure. Calixta-san, did you get any sort of impressions from the Kazekage?" Kakashi diverted.

She started a moment at the question. "N-No, not really."

"Lair!" Sasuke slammed his fist down but she didn't flinch.

"He is understandably deeply concerned about the situation but I think that's mostly because it escalated like it did. He's like any father. He wants the best for his son," she explained.

"Too bad he has to settle for you," Sasuke sniped.

Kakashi let it go but only because of something Calixta mentioned to him, that Sasuke, when he was uncomfortable speaking his true feelings, would say the exact opposite instead, knowing that she would understand.

"I might have been able to get more if there were less people around, but that can't be helped," she sighed. "And what certainly didn't help was all the negative energy Baki was dumping on me. It almost made me sick to my stomach."

Kakashi eyed her carefully. Even without empathy, he could sense that but something told him that the pangs of anger and betrayal weren't entirely his own. "Did you happen to…share that with anyone else?"

Calixta faltered again, this time quickly looking about the room at each of their faces. "I…I did. If you felt anything like that…I'm sorry I had to share it…but it aggravated me so much that I almost attacked him again," she admitted regretfully.

"Then you should be glad that we're here," Naruto asserted with a generous smile.

A fair portion of Calixta's smile returned.

"And what did I say about apologizing?" Kakashi playfully scolded.

"Of course. So I guess I just say thank you," she gave a little bow but then her smile fell again.

"What's the matter?" Sakura suddenly asked.

"There's really not a whole lot of time left. I hope they don't intend to take too long," she sighed.

"Why didn't you tell them you were on a tight schedule?" Kakashi pressed.

"Because I didn't want them to think I was trying to interfere in their decision anymore than I already have. If I rush them, it will only make things more difficult," she reasoned.

"So, what'll you do when they do decide?" Sasuke bluntly inquired.

"Well, that depends on what they decide, doesn't it? I suppose the question really is how we have to approach our relationship from now on. We will be together," she asserted. "They're just deciding how easy it's going to be on everyone else," she scoffed.

"Arrogant!" Sasuke almost reeled back to slap her but knew he wouldn't get away with it so stopped himself.

"Dedicated," Naruto added with a smirk.

"Head over heals," Sakura chimed in, her tone absolutely matter of fact.

"Bingo," Kakashi pointed at her.

"Shut up," Calixta sighed.

* * *

"What are your impressions so far?" Tsunade asked when she was sure they were alone.

"Well, I regret to confess that it seems I am only as close to my son as you are to Calixta," he admitted.

"But Calixta is not my daughter. At the very most, I have healed her while on duty at the hospital during her stays there," she pointed out.

The older man nodded thoughtfully. "I apologize for my reservation. I find myself wanting to like this young woman but Baki has warned me that even that is too much," he continued.

"That used to be the case but that is why she came to our village. She is now in control of her abilities," she assured.

"Which Baki also contests on the grounds that it makes her even more dangerous. Unusual chakras are usually quite difficult to control but once that power is harnessed, it often turns into a formidable opponent," he contested. "And I would say that she has proven herself to be at least that to those who try to resist her will."

"I suppose it could be seen that way but Baki has never taken the time to actually speak with her, to get to know her. It's like Naruto, many protested his ninja training because of the demon in his belly, a subject I'm sure you're familiar with, but look how he turned out. He even whipped your boy into shape," she bragged.

"Are you implying that her companionship could improve my son in some way?" he cocked a curious eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it did," she shrugged.

"I would like to get to know her better before dismissing her. Hearing two so completely different accounts is more than a little disturbing and I must admit that it makes me feel a little misinformed," he told the woman seated across from his desk.

"You could speak to her yourself," she suggested.

"Oh no, that, unfortunately, won't do. If I make my decision after speaking to her alone, Baki won't trust it and frankly, I wouldn't blame him for that," he dismissed.

"Well, it just so happens you also have as your guests this evening, her sensei and three teammates. I'm sure they could be convinced to give us an honest account of her," she continued.

"That's not a bad idea," he nodded and then sent for Kakashi. "But what if Baki is right and she has charmed them as well?" he proposed.

"That is why I would like to stay. I may not know Calixta very well but I do know the four of them. I will be able to tell you if they're behaving strangely," she assured.

"I can accept that," he agreed.

Kakashi entered a few minutes later. He wasn't surprised that the pair of leaders had decided to dispense with the formalities and get straight to the point.

"Tell me about Calixta," the Kazekage ordered, pouring the younger man a saucer of sake.

Tsunade had suggested that they drink while they talked about half way through their conversation so it only seemed polite to include him as well.

Kakashi took a moment to gather his thoughts. "She is…very strong, very passionate. Because of her empathic skills, she is one of the kindest people I have ever known. I'm sure you've noticed that she has quite a stubborn streak but it's usually good natured. She does not want to be a ninja," he asserted.

"But it seems she is a rather effective one. Wouldn't you say?" he prompted.

"She only did those things because she felt like she had to. She'd been pushed into a corner by trying to work within what other people thought was acceptable. Actually, I'm surprised it took as long as it did to come to this. Their relationship was like a flashbang from the very start."

"Then, do you think it could be a simple case of infatuation?"

"I thought that at first too but watching them together and listening to her talk about him changed my mind. I think they're a good fit," Kakashi explained.

"What kinds of things does she say about him?" the older man pressed in a fatherly way.

Kakashi tried not to smile. "Well, she loves him. I don't know if either of you realize this but she has never even had a crush on anyone else before. By the time she got to the age for that, her chakra had already started to kick in. Since she was ten, she's had to deal with everyone else around her dumping their emotions onto her and she couldn't get away from it. I'm sure Lady Tsunade has told you that since she has come to our village, those kinds of things don't affect her as much any more and she fell for Gaara like a ton of bricks. As her sensei, it is my firm belief that this relationship is good for both of them."

The Kazekage sighed. "I highly doubt Gaara has ever felt those kinds of things for another person before," he mused. It certainly explained their erratic behavior. "Why do you think he likes her?"

Kakashi was silently thankful for his scarf because it managed to hide most of the blush that came to his cheeks at the question. "Where to start?" he laughed.

"It sounds like you are quite fond of her as well," the Kazekage pointed out in a warning tone.

"Don't get me wrong. I am but I have no romantic interest in her whatsoever." He almost admitted that she was too much for him but kept that to himself. "She loves him," he stated simply.

The Kazekage looked to his visiting leader for confirmation on their last exchange. "He's telling the truth. Kakashi is a pervert not a womanizer," she dismissed.

"Tsunade-sama!" he gasped, now he was sure that the little bits of his face that showed were bright red.

The old man chuckled and sent him away.

Next was Sasuke, who was especially uncomfortable with their situation. He was asked a similar set of questions, though they were asked less directly and less harshly than those given to Kakashi.

"You promise Calixta won't hear any of this?" Sasuke verified before answering the general question of his impressions of her in their time together.

"I assure you that this is a private meeting," Lady Tsunade replied assuredly. "We want to know exactly what you think so we wouldn't jeopardize that by telling others what you said."

"Okay…Actually, she's amazing," he admitted. "She and I don't usually get along because she's a stubborn pervert but other than that, I can't really argue."

The old man was intrigued. "Could you elaborate on that for me please?"

"Well…You sure none of this is going to get back to Calixta?" he asked again.

"This is just between the three of us. On that you have my word," the old man swore.

"Fine. It's just that she's really thoughtful. She really gives a damn about others and not just because she can feel their emotions. I think it used to be that way. Before she could control her chakra, I think she behaved the way she did because of the influences of others. But now it's different. She really cares. She and I are actually pretty close, even though we disagree on just about everything there is."

"How close?" the Hokage pressed.

Sasuke blushed. "Well, she charmed me on our escort mission to bring her to our village but that wore off after we got to our village. That wasn't intentional. It happened before she got control. On top of that…I have used some of her abilities before."

"You what?" Tsunade nearly gasped.

"With my sharingan," he explained. "The point is that when I do that and she lets me feel what she's feeling, lets me see into her heart, I can tell. She really, really, really is in love with Gaara and she won't stop until they're together, even if it kills her. She's really stubborn like that," he grumbled.

"When did you do this?" Tsunade pressed.

"About a year after she got stuck with Kakashi-sensei. Off and on since then," he answered.

"Why did you do it?" she continued to question, unaware that her concern had piqued the other leaders interest.

"B-Because…well there were a few reasons. Kakashi-sensei asked me to do it. Originally, she had wanted him to copy her but he refused on the grounds that he was her sensei, that it wouldn't leave enough distance between them. So, he asked me to do it. We did it because she didn't want to continue her training until she knew what it felt like to be charmed like that," he carefully explained.

"I suppose you know quite a bit about her and her abilities," the Kazekage noted. "Tell me about the nature of her abilities. Are they as difficult to control as I hear?"

"Incredibly difficult. The first time I did it, I think she helped me keep it under control but I think that only shows how far she's come. I can now maintain control of what she considers to be the simpler aspects of her power. When I utilize her power, I can see the auras of others, I can assert my influence over others, with varying degrees of success, and I can sense the emotions of others."

"What else is there?" the old man pressed.

"She can…sense the truthfulness of others, something I can only do with her and only after an empathic link has been established, and she understands the feelings she gets from people a lot better than I do, knows how to respond to them. She can also call out to others she's made connections with, often over great distances, as I'm sure you know. I can't do that," he elaborated.

"Fascinating. I can understand why your village values her so greatly," he mused. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Sasuke looked at his feet for a moment.

"What is it Sasuke?" Tsunade pressed.

"It's just that…I dunno if you were aware but…I wouldn't say anything if it wasn't Calixta but…she sort of _has_ to be intimate with several different people in order to maintain her control and stability. I'm only telling you this because she has a romantic interest in Gaara but for her sex and romance are two different things. Well, they're usually two different things. I'm sure with Gaara it's different. As far as I can tell, he's okay with her being as promiscuous as she is but…I think being with him on a regular basis might help settle her down in that way. Something about him seems to stabilize her chakra." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You should know…she's not going to give up on him, no matter what it takes, no matter who she has to defy."

The Kazekage gave a thoughtful nod and let the young ninja go.


	27. Dependence

"What do you think so far, Lady Tsunade?" the Kazekage asked before asking the other two in to speak with them.

"I wasn't expecting Sasuke to be so candid," she admitted. "He's usually very shy and reserved about that kind of thing."

"Do you think that's due to Calixta's influence? I've heard she has a tendency to make others more forward," he proposed.

"Well, it's because of Calixta, for sure, but not because she's charmed him. I think he really wants her to be happy. Well, that and he's learned that when it comes to matters regarding Calixta, being forward and open about the situation seems to work out much better than trying to be reserved or aloof."

He nodded again and sent for Sakura. She was, of course, asked the same basic questions and gave the basically the same answers.

"Sakura-san, you seem a little frustrated. Is there something you'd like to add?" Tsunade pressed.

"Not really. I'm just still annoyed that I'm the one she tricked to get away from us, not that she seduced me or anything to do it," she quickly covered. "She and I are rather close friends and it's disturbing to be deceived like that by someone you're close to. I mean, I know why she did it. Heck, if I was her, I might have done the same thing," she tried to reason.

"You would abandon your teammates for the sake of romance?" Tsunade incredulously questioned.

"If I'd never felt that way about someone before. I think a lot of it is that she's so overwhelmed. I mean, just about every time they get together, somebody makes a big deal about it. I'm sure that makes it really hard to keep things in perspective, ya know?"

They let her leave a short while later and sent for Naruto.

They shouldn't have been surprised by his energy but somehow it still took them aback after speaking to so many solemn people.

When asked what he thought of her, his first response was, "Oh, man, she is the best cook ever! She can make travel rations taste like a five star meal, I swear!"

"Naruto, I know you haven't eaten since you got here but that's not really what we're asking," Tsunade clarified even though the older man was greatly amused.

"Oh, well…she's great. I mean, sure she has a really weird streak but have you met most of the people from our village? It would be hard to find two people who are the same, even when they come from the same family," he reasoned. "Besides, it's not like she can charm little kids or anything. I mean, she has gotten better about rounding out who she can affect and to what degree but she can't charm just anybody and if you are aware of what she's capable of, I'm pretty sure you can fight it off, maybe even just ignore it. It only works really well if you're attracted to her even before she starts using her chakra," he explained.

"Really?" the old man gave another thoughtful nod. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

Naruto thought it over for a moment. "I dunno how you feel about her or even how you feel about Gaara but when they're together…" he had to stop to think again about how he wanted to say what he was thinking, "they're both the happiest I've ever seen them. Well, except when someone's giving them a hard time about it, but that's to be expected, right?"

"I suppose it is," the Kazekage agreed offhandedly.

"Oh, and there is one thing I've noticed. Ya know, I didn't really trust Gaara at first. After what he and Shukaku did to our village, it was a lot to ask," he began again.

"I'm sure," the Kazekage regretfully agreed. "Am I to understand then that he did something to win your trust in this matter?"

Naruto couldn't help smirking a little at the memory. "He absolutely hates-no, it really, really disturbs him if she bleeds, even just a little."

"Naruto," Tsunade interjected, "when did Gaara make her bleed, other than during her encounter with Shukaku."

"Oh, yeah, that's the other thing. Okay, sorry, I'm getting distracted. What happened was, ya see, Calixta's really sensitive to sexy-no-jutsu. As soon as someone does it, her nose just starts bleeding like there's no tomorrow," he clumsily explained.

"Sexy-no-jutsu?" the old man repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, I can show you," he started to weave the sign but Tsunade quickly stopped him.

"I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Oh, okay, anyway, I did that once in front of her while Gaara was there and he got _really_ upset," he explained. "The other thing," he started again before they could respond, "is that because Calixta gave up all her chakra to Gaara and Shukaku that one time, the scratches and bite marks that Shukaku left scarred. She told me about how disturbed he was by them when they saw each other again. I think they're starting to go away but I don't know if they will ever really disappear."

"Naruto," Tsunade interrupted, "are you intimately involved with Calixta?"

"I-Intimate?" he stammered, blushing furiously. "Like intimate how?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you one of her many lovers?"

"Uh, yes. Wait, no. Well, sorta?" he barely managed, much to the amusement of the old man behind the desk.

"That's not a very good answer," Tsunade chided impatiently.

"We talk a lot. She answers my questions when no one else will," he admitted. "Sometimes…we…have sex…but that's not why I spend so much time with her," he slowly began but was quick to amend.

That answer also amused the leaders and they let him go after that.

"Well, you've spoken to everyone I can provide off hand, is there anything else I can do?" Tsunada prompted.

"No, I think I've made my decision," he answered thoughtfully. He then informed her of his decision and gathered everyone in his office once again.

"I have made my determination," the Kazekage announced and everyone in the room waited with baited breath. "But first I would like to speak privately with Calixta-san."

"With all due respect, sir, I think you should tell us now," Baki tried to coax.

"I understand your concern but I assure you that she will not sway me. If she does, you will know. I have already told Lady Tsunade my decision so she will be able to tell you if I have changed my mind."

Then, he took the young woman in question to a room just off his office to speak with her. Satu stayed by Gaara's side. She appeared meek at first but quickly regained her confidence.

"You've caused quite a ruckus," the old man began.

"I suppose I have," she quietly replied.

"I want you to tell me yourself what interest you have in my son," he informed.

She sighed. "I love him, what more is there?"

"I was expecting a little more than that," he chided.

"I realize that and I am more than willing to answer any questions you have, tell you everything you want to know in painful detail but not right now. Right now, I need to see Shukaku," she asserted.

"You have made that very clear. Honestly, I am surprised you are putting such a rush on reuniting with a demon."

"I know but what you don't know is that I'm on something of a tight schedule for this. Shukaku gave me exactly a year to get him out again. I only have a few hours left and I don't want to risk not making it," she explained as evenly as she could.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" he pressed.

She gave him a gentle little smile, something he wasn't expecting. "Because you needed time to make your decision. Something this important shouldn't be rushed. If I rushed you, Baki would think even less of me than he already does. The last thing I need is for him to think I'm manipulating you in addition to everyone else," she reasoned.

"Okay. We will talk later then. There is one thing you can do for me since I am going to be permitting your relationship with my son and the most dangerous person in our village," he told her with a slight smile.

Her smile grew into a grin. "What's that?" she asked eagerly.

"I want you to let Shukaku out here and now," he replied.

"Here? Now? I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I mean, I'm sure he won't rampage or anything but I'm not sure how he'd react to a crowd let alone an audience," she tried to reason.

"Oh? I thought you were in a hurry?" he half-teased. "Besides, if he isn't as docile as you expect, it wouldn't hurt to have a few extra people around to try to reign him in."

"I-I am but-" she couldn't think any other arguments to sway him so she acquiesced. "Okay. I'll do what I can."

They exited a moment later. The Kazekage appeared slightly pleased; Calixta appeared very anxious.

"So?" Naruto prompted impatiently. No one commented on his rudeness because they were all thinking the same thing.

"I will allow this relationship," he conceded, taking his seat behind his desk.

"What?" Baki raved.

"No more arguments from you. While I do reserve the right to change my mind at any time, I think this is the right decision."

"She got to you! I don't know how she did it but she got you too!" Baki tried to argue.

"That's enough! If you can't accept my decision, then I'll have to relieve you of duty!" he finally raised his voice and that quieted the younger man. "Now, Calixta, please," he motioned to Gaara.

Gaara was still awing at the decision. It seemed too easy and he wasn't willing to accept that, as much as he would have liked to. He flinched when she first touched his arm and then again when she gently kissed his cheek. "Ai-sama," she whispered in his ear. "Please, do it now," she once again pleaded.

"Now?" he questioned incredulously.

"That is your father's only stipulation," she told him.

While Gaara eyed her with horror, they received incredulous stares from the others in the room.

"Please," she pleaded in a quiet desperate voice.

"But-" Gaara tried to argue.

"Please," she interrupted, even more desperately than before.

With a sigh, Gaara weaved the sign that would force him into sleep and allow Shukaku to emerge.

"Ah, Cali-chan," were the first words spoken from Gaara's mouth in the demon's timber. Then he looked around. "I wasn't aware that you wanted to show off in front of all these people." He wrapped a sure arm around her waist and firmly grabbed her ass with a greedy grin on his face as he scanned the expressions of those in the room with them, reveling in the anxiety that he felt from them through her.

"You know this wasn't my preferred venue," she bitterly answered. "But it's what had to be done. I kept my end of the bargain."

"That you did. You are more persistent than I thought. I figured that you were just buying time to get away, to find a place to hide from me," he chided, using his other hand to lift her chin and force eye contact.

The others continued to stare on in silent horror. They were waiting for him to lash out but afraid to say anything about what was happening. Only Satu had the courage to make any sort of sound and she seemed most interested in keeping the others away from her master.

"There is no hiding from you. Even if I did, you're not interested in killing me. You'd rather prolong my suffering by hurting those who are dear to me," she replied evenly.

He laughed at her. "I suppose that's true. Now, should we leave this insignificance or would you rather have me ravage you here?" he proposed crudely.

She blushed a little at the heat she could feel from him. "There is one thing first," she quickly added.

"And what's that?" he asked, holding her even more closely.

"Make this deal with me again. The second night of the Monsoon Festival is yours until I die as long as you don't harm anyone because of me," she promised.

He grinned greedily at her audacity as he thought it over. "Okay. I can live with that. Now, where to? I'm growing impatient and I know you can feel that," he eagerly pressed.

Calixta closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she wrapped her arms tightly around him and kissed him.

Shukaku snickered against her lips. "I didn't figure you to be such an exhibitionist, my dear." Before long, he was starting to rudely grope her.

Once she was sure he was comfortable with his position, she started to call Gaara back from within him but as soon as he realized what she was doing, he pulled back from their kiss, not letting go of her body. "You-" he accused.

"I'm sorry Shukaku-sama. I must do this. May our next meeting be as long as you like," she vowed before closing her eyes and holding him as tightly as she could. "Ai-sama!" she cried out loudly, causing the demon to flinch.

"No! I haven't had my fun yet!" the demon argued, obviously greatly angered by her defiance.

"Ai-sama!" she cried again, completely undeterred by the massive amount of negative chakra he was dumping on her. "Ai-sama! Come back to me!" she called.

Gaara's body tensed for a moment and then grew mostly limp in her arms. A moment later, his eyes fluttered open. "Cali…" he quietly said, gently wrapping his arms around her. "What happened? Why are we still here? What happened to Shukaku?"

"She sent him away," the Kazekage informed, obviously impressed.

"I heard you, no felt you calling to me," he marveled.

She nodded and kissed him again, this time with all the passion that she'd been saving since their last meeting. Immediately, Gaara melted into her affection and in spite of his self-consciousness, he started to kiss her back. They withdrew from one another, breathless and flushed, a moment later.

"I trust you are pleased?" she asked, turning to the Kazekage with Satu yapping in agreement.

He nodded, unable to completely suppress his smile. "Now, you've all had a very long journey. Why don't we enjoy the festival? There is still much feasting and celebrating to do."

The others agreed and all went out to eat together. Baki, of course, didn't join them but they were joined by Temari and Kankuro just as they were starting their meal. They just smiled as they sat down with the rest of their family.

"So, Calixta," Sasuke began, "How did you know you could do that?"

"Hm?" she distractedly prompted as she slurped up her noodles.

"He means sending Shukaku away like you did," Gaara specified.

"Oh, well, I guess I didn't really know for sure," she admitted.

"It was a really risky move," Kakashi chided authoritatively.

"I know but that's why I made our deal again first. I think that's the only reason it really worked this time, or at least worked as quickly. He knew I wanted to see him again and I'd proven that I could do it," she tried to explain. "Besides, I didn't send him away. I called Gaara back. There's a difference."

"I assume that since Baki's not here he wasn't impressed?" Temari pressed.

Calixta laughed a little. "Not terribly but I think with enough time, he'll come to terms with it."

"I hope you're right," Kankuro grumbled. "I'm tired of moving rocks!" he playfully complained.

The Kazekage assured them that Baki would no longer be allowed to exact those sort of punishments on them and that if he tried, that they had the right to refuse him. He waited until the following afternoon to speak to Calixta personally and in private about her relationship with his son.

* * *

As they parted ways that evening, Calixta thanked everyone for their part in their stable reunion.

"I can't believe he's letting this go," Gaara marveled.

"Your father, for all his faults, is a wise man," she conceded. "But don't think about him anymore for a while. This time is ours. We should enjoy it as much as we can. I get the feeling that we're staying until the end of the festival but that we're leaving after that."

"Do you have to go?" he almost whined.

She gave him a gentle smile that made his heart flutter. "I will never really leave you, you know that, but I still have obligations in the Leaf. Without them, this would never have been possible. Once I am free from those obligations, all my time is yours," she vowed.

That made him smile back. "Okay," he nodded.

"Now, to more important business," she adjusted her shirt. "I haven't been emptied since I snuck away this morning and it's really, really starting to hurt," she playfully complained in spite of the fact that her physical pain was very real.

He gave her a greedy grin and led her into his house. The door was barely closed before he tried to drag her to the ground.

"What about your bedroom?" she prompted.

Gaara frowned. "You mean _your_ bedroom and Baki made me get rid of all that stuff a long time ago," he griped.

She smiled. "No matter," she shrugged and sat down on one of the pillows in his sitting area. "As long as you're here, nothing else matters," she vowed overdramatically and then gave a playful wink.

He just laughed it off and sat down before her. She let him open her top and gasped at the greedily way he nursed from her. She didn't care that occasionally, he got a little over excited and pulled a little too hard, but at the same time, that eagerness only fueled the fire between them.

When her little sounds of pleasure became so heated that he thought that he might lose control, he pulled back a bit to speak to her, not that he stopped entirely. He opted instead to squeeze her breasts and tease her swollen nipples with his tongue and lips. "Why did you call me that earlier?" he asked curiously.

"Because that is who you are to me. You know I wasn't one hundred percent sure about whether or not I could call you back but I don't think there was anything else I could have said that would have worked," she admitted.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry I had to use such an affectionate name to get your attention in front of all those people," she genuinely apologized between panting breaths.

He sighed a little, "It's okay. I understand why you did it," he willingly conceded but only because he knew, through her, that no one who was there at the time found it outright ridiculous. Sure, it only served to heighten Baki's anxiety and Sasuke was a little annoyed at the overly affectionate nickname, but that was all.

Shortly after he resumed suckling her, she placed her hands on his shoulders. This, in itself, wasn't unusual, but this time it almost felt like a defensive gesture, rather than an affectionate one. It felt like she could and very well might pull away from him at any time, a feeling that Gaara did not enjoy, to say the least. "What's the matter?" he finally asked when he could finally hear her anxiety in her voice.

She didn't answer him for a long moment. Her hesitation irked him and he nipped at one of her overly sensitive nipples. She squealed and squirmed but by that point, he'd managed to get a decent grip on her hips so she wouldn't get away as easily. "Ah," she gasped. "It's all so much at once…I'm afraid I'm going to get overwhelmed if we don't slow down a bit," she admitted.

That was the first time she had actually felt anxiety when they were together. "It's okay," he tried ease but her anxiousness only grew. So, with a frown if disapproval, he withdrew from her.

Calixta tried to maintain physical contact with him but he wouldn't allow it, making her give a whine of denial in response.

"That's not fair," he stated grimly.

She blinked at him with incomprehension.

"I let go of everything because I trust you," he pointed out.

"Th-That's different," she weakly tried to reason.

"That's what I would have said if you'd asked me to let Shukaku out instead of tricking me," he adamantly replied.

She could feel that to him it was the same and was so moved by this feeling that she bowed deeply, her nose nearly touching the floor. "Forgive me. You're right," she pleaded.

Gaara knew that it was something of a dirty trick to force the issue when she was already on the brink but at the same time, even that seemed like poetic justice for him. He barely held back his smile as he lifted her chin. "Never bow to me," he ordered.

She appeared confused for a moment. That order almost seemed contrary to his last notion. "But the others are so close," she argued as she sat up again, though still leaned toward him.

"Forget about them. Focus on me!" he insisted in a dark voice.

Calixta whimpered again under the force of his chakra pressing in around her and provoking her own energy.

"Am I going to have to get Sasuke to charm you so you can even things out?" he taunted.

"S-Sa-No," she stammered. There were very few people she wanted to see less at the moment than Sasuke. "Okay, drive me into madness and drag me back again, or leave me there, whatever you want. My abandon is yours," she vowed.

Gaara gave a nod of approval and pulled her into his lap, "You're already mad as a hatter, my dear," he teased before trying to kiss her passionately.

"You know I hate it when you say things like that," she bitterly countered but her body was already starting to betray her.

He just smirked, and this time was successful in his attempt to press their lips together. Even from just that affection and its subsequent embrace, he could tell she was really trying to let go of her self-control, of her thinking mind. He had always considered her a creature of instinct rather than logic, not that she didn't have her moments of eerie clarity, and he wanted to experience that to the fullest.

Before she realized what was happening, she was naked in his lap and it felt like his hands and mouth were all over her body. The sensation was intoxicating and she had to break their kiss in order to breathe. She gasped for breath in his lap, tugging at his clothes, though he seemed in no hurry to join her in nudity.

As he touched her, it felt like her body was growing hotter by the moment, which seemed impossible because it felt like she was on fire as soon as he started touching her. The heat alone was almost overwhelming but he knew better than to give into it because it was his turn to show that he could take responsibility for both of them during a time when her mind was incapacitated and her body allowed run amok. He wasn't surprised that once they found their rhythm, it was easier for her to let go, it just took a while to find the right rhythm.

Unfortunately, it would take some practice for Gaara to be able to hold her entire focus when she was letting go of her control and she was right, it started to draw a some attention. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto, who happened to all be together, with Sakura, knew better than to respond to the nagging feelings that they were having but Kankuro wasn't as lucky.

He knew he shouldn't follow the feeling but he couldn't help himself. On top of the draw he felt, he was also immensely curious as to the cause. He quietly snuck up onto the porch and casually sat down on the narrow front porch next to the open window with blinds closed. He might have tried listening at the door but the way Satu stood protectively on Gaara's welcome mat made him think twice about approaching the entry way.

He closed his eyes with a sigh and listened to the commotion inside. He wasn't surprised to hear that the majority of the sounds were coming from Calixta. He knew he should have just left right then and there because it was obvious what was happening inside but the timber of desperation in her voice compelled him to stay.

When she started to tense up again, Gaara tried to ask her about it but she answered even before he could pose the question.

"Ni-san," she whispered into his hear.

"Wh-?"

"He's outside," she continued in a quiet, husky voice.

Gaara growled with frustration.

"It's okay, he's mostly curious," she covered for him but Gaara was already setting her down on the ground to go outside and shoo him away.

"He still shouldn't be here," he grumbled and reached for the door.

Amused, Calixta slowly followed him. She made a quick stop to grab a cigarette before stumbling naked out the door.

"Get out of here," Gaara ordered in a dark voice.

Kankuro nearly jumped out of his skin. "Uh-I-Well-…" he stammered.

"I don't want to talk to you. Just leave," he insisted, pointing away from the door.

"Aw, sweetie, don't be so hard on him," Calixta said with an intoxicated giggle as she leaned on him, exhaling a puff of smoke in the process.

Kankuro was on his way off the porch. After his initial hesitation, due to being startled, he was in a hurry to leave.

"Oi, 'Kuro-nii," she lazily called after him.

Only because of her influence over him did he turn back.

"Somethin' for your trouble," she tossed him a cigarette and dragged her lover back inside.

"You're too nice," Gaara scoffed, slamming the door behind him.

"It's not his fault and I doubt he'll make that mistake again," she snickered.

"There is one thing that I've been neglecting to do," he mused, sitting her back down on the floor. Then, he laid her down on her back. Without another word, he spread her legs and started to lap at her slit.

She let loose an incredible squeal and he found he had to hold onto her at first to keep doing as he pleased.

* * *

As promised, she told the Kazekage everything he wanted to know and in painful detail. It was even more detailed than he expected and she thought she even caught the old man blushing from time to time.

"Tell me, what do you see in my son that so many others have overlooked," he asked genuinely.

She flushed a little at the thought of her lover. "I-I really don't know how to answer that. He's perfect…well, we both know he's greatly flawed but so am I. I guess we're like two broken pieces that fit together nicely," she mused. "I can tell you what he sees in me," she offered.

He gave her an expecting look.

"I don't fear him or Shukaku," she informed seriously.

"How is that possible? I felt your fear when Shukaku emerged," he pointed out

She smiled a little at his perceptiveness. "Well, demons, I'm finding, are a little different. The fear that Shukaku instills is instinctive. Humans naturally fear demons but on a conscious level, I do not fear him," she explained.

He appeared pleased by that answer. "I'm more than a little surprised that he permits you to have so many lovers in addition to him," he noted.

She gave another bashful grin. "He realizes what it means to me and he knows who I've been with. He knows they are no threat to him."

"You've told him everyone you've been with?" he incredulously questioned.

"Oh, no. I don't have to. He just knows, like he can sense it. That's how he knows my connections with them are much different than ours," she explained.

"Fascinating," he nodded.

"Though, I think that as we are permitted to spend more and more time together, other lovers will not be necessary," she was quick to add. "His chakra stabilizes mine some how."

"I see. Is this part of the reason you fell for him?" he pressed.

"Would you think less of me if it was?" she countered.

He thought for a moment. "It would make me a little more apprehensive," he admitted.

"Then you can breathe a little easier. It was after I started to fall for him that I realized that was the case. Intimate activities in general have that effect on me but he supersedes all the others. In fact, it seems that being with others too soon after being with Gaara has a tendency to do more harm than good in that department," she explained. "I took it as an affirmation of what I was already feeling."

His expression changed to something resembling approving. Then, she appeared as though she was going to speak but stopped herself. He felt her hesitation. "What is it?" he asked curiously.

Calixta sigh lightly. "It's just that…I can show you my feelings for Gaara if that's what you'd like," she told him.

"But?" he prompted.

"But I'd really rather not. I've already shared that with one other person and I know that even though Gaara hasn't said anything about it himself, it really bothers him," she added.

"I see. Well, I don't think that's necessary," he conceded. "May I ask who you did share your feelings with?"

"Kakashi-sensei. I was so confused at the time. I've never felt this way about someone else before. I asked him to take in my feelings in order to help me sort them out," she told him.

The Kazekage made a mental note to speak with Kakashi about that at some point but decided to let it go for now. "You are very fortunate to have someone like that in your life."

"I know," she quitely agreed. "That's why it was so difficult to deceive him."

He felt a pang of regret. "I can feel your emotions very readily now. Is that intentional?"

"I can try to reign it in if you'd prefer but it's happening because I find myself growing more fond of you. As we speak and I get more comfortable, I feel as though we're growing closer. That kind of thing, I've found, has a tendency to let my empathy slip a bit," she admitted regretfully.

"No worries," he assured her. "I was simply curious. In fact, I find it reassuring that I can sense these things from you," he admitted.

She gave a beaming grin at him and he felt his heart skip a beat. He laughed a little but then some of his seriousness returned. "What about Kankuro?"

"What about him?" she blinked.

"You've charmed him and he came, just like Gaara, when you called them," he pointed out.

"Ah, yes, but that was quite some time ago. I know that both of your sons find me attractive but there is only one who is really interested enough to do something about it. And, please don't think me rude but I have to correct you. You said he came, just like Gaara, but that's not the case. They were both drawn by me; that is true, but Gaara, unlike all the others, including Kankuro, kept coming to me after I stopped calling out. Actually, he seemed more concerned that I stopped than the fact that I was calling to him in the first place. I-I don't know if he even realized it at the time but I was sort of in need when he came to me," she babbled.

"I didn't realize," he conceded. "What sort of need? From my understanding, your wound healed very quickly," he pressed.

She shifted a little, obviously a little embarrassed by what she was about to say. "My need for intimacy wasn't being met. I was in no condition to go find someone myself and no one around me seemed inclined to indulge me while I was injured. I could have tried to call someone else to me but after what happened, I wasn't sure that was the best idea at the time. What I ended up doing was accidental."

"I understand that," he agreed.

"Gaara was completely different. He wouldn't be deterred until he saw me, until we at least embraced," she admitted.

"Why do you think that is?" the old father continued to press her for intimate details concerning his son.

Her blush deepened. "I-I can't say really. I was so frazzled and drained at the time," she laughed a little. "I…" she sighed. "He knows for a fact that I'm not scared of him. He knows there isn't the least shred of hate between us."

"I see…" he pondered. "Is there anything else you think I should know?" he finally questioned.

Calixta quirked an odd look at the query. "I'm a bit surprised that you're not asking about why I like Shukaku," she haughtily proposed.

Her sudden shift in assertiveness took the old man a little off guard but he quickly recovered. "You said before that he is a part of Gaara that should not be ignored," he reminded.

"At the time you were asking if I knew what he was so I gave you that general answer," she added.

He pursed his lips. "If there is another way to describe him, why didn't you say it then?" he proposed dryly.

"For many reasons. For one, it was best that I spoke as little as possible at the time. The more attention I drew to myself the more Baki's distrust of the situation would grow. I said what needed to be said and it was the truth," she assured.

"Oh, I know it was the truth. I'm just waiting for you to tell me the rest now," he prompted impatiently.

She gave him a sly look for thinking she was stalling when really it was just her tendency to babble starting to take over. "Of course. The fact of the matter is, I love both Gaara and Shukaku," she stated.

The Kazekage was obviously displeased by that. "Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to irk me?"

She giggled a bit. "Only a little. You want a well-rounded impression of me, don't you? How would it look if I only told you the happy sunshiny things? You need to hear the darker, grittier parts too," she insisted and once again won him over.

He could tell she was playing off his emotions but at the same time, it felt like a natural exchange between them because she wasn't hiding anything from him.

"My affection for Shukaku comes from the fact that he can absorb any negative energy I might have. In fact, he seems to rather enjoy it and it seems to strengthen Gaara," she pointed out. "The two of them together can take whatever I have to give."

"I just have one more question. What would you have done if I had not ruled in your favor?"

She gave an almost dangerous grin. "As long as Gaara still loved me, I would not have given up. We would have had to find a way around your decision…if we couldn't manage that…I'm not sure what we would have to resort to. I'm glad it didn't come to that."

The way she smiled at him made him a little nervous but he let it go. "I've noticed that you're not the only one who's taken a liking to my son," he mused.

"Oh? Are you saying that I have some sort of competition?" she teasingly proposed.

He laughed a little at the idea. "I'm referring to your little dog. What's its name?"

"Oh, you mean Satu," she laughed a little. "Yes, she also seems quite fond of Gaara."

"I'd say. Most animals run instinctively at the sight of my son," he commented.

"Yes, well, they can only sense the demon in him," she pointed out.

"Just how strong is your connection with Satu?" he pressed.

"I…I've never really tested it," she admitted, feeling a little foolish.

The older man paused for a moment. "She seems to be as connected to you as Gaara is."

"I suppose," she agreed somewhat reluctantly because she didn't like the dark tone that crept into his voice.

"Then I suggest you keep a close eye on her. I know that Baki won't dare to lay a finger on you now but I can't guarantee the safety of your pet," he informed flatly.

"I see," she recoiled a bit at the thought. "I will keep that in mind."

They parted a few minutes later with friendly smiles.

* * *

The Kazekage did manage to get a chance to speak with Kakashi before the left and was pleased with what he heard.

Kakashi actually blushed a little at the query. "Uh, yeah, she showed me her feelings for Gaara. She was so unfamiliar with the feelings that trying to understand them was really stressing her out."

"And what did you find?"

Kakashi bit his lip but it went unseen behind his mask. "Well, I'm not really sure to be honest. There was so much to take in at once that it was hard to decipher but I did reason that it was most likely the spark of love that she was feeling. Actually, I was so overwhelmed that I ended up kissing her," he bashfully admitted. "I didn't even realize what I was doing until she pulled away."

"She offered to show me the same thing. I'm glad I refused," the old man mused.

That made Kakashi laugh. "Honestly, I'm surprised she offered."

"She made sure to imply that was one of the few things that Gaara didn't like her doing," he pointed out.

"Now, that doesn't surprise me," he chuckled again.

* * *

As expected, Gaara and Calixta spent the majority of her time there alone together, though they did spend more time with the others than was expected. She even slipped away one evening to corner Baki as he was leaving one of the busier restaurants, making sure to leave Satu behind.

"Calixta-san," he curtly greeted.

"Baki-sensei," she gave a respectful bow.

"Is there a reason you're speaking to me?"

She gave a placating little smile. "Only to say that I appreciate your position, as frustrating as it has been for me. Gaara needs more people in his life who give a damn about his wellbeing," she vowed seriously.

"Is that all?" he looked away, annoyed.

"Baki-sensei, I will obey you in all things within my capacity," she bowed deeply.

Her sudden show of loyal sincerity took him aback but he quickly recovered. "Which means you won't listen to me," he scoffed.

"If your wishes run contrary to those of Kakashi-sensei or my desires for Gaara then I will not but in all other things, I will do what I can for you," she amended.

Then, Baki forced a lewd grin as he took a step forward, nearly closing the distance between their bodies. "Would you let me have you?" he suggested, practically looming down at her.

"If that is what would truly win your favor," she conceded.

"Whore," he spat but it only made her laugh. "What's so damn funny?"

"It's just that it's been quite a while since someone's called me that and was right about it. If that is the price I have to pay to get you to stop dumping all your negative energy on me, I'll gladly pay it," she answered.

Baki sneered down his nose at her. "Good bye," he suddenly turned and left.

At first, Calixta was annoyed by his manner of departure but took it in stride. She had said what she needed to say and the rest was up to him.

* * *

Lady Tsunade left a couple of days later. She was supposed to come back the following day but was too tempted by the unusually festive air of the Sand Village to leave without indulging herself a little bit. The others parted on good terms at the end of the week, each with a brand new umbrella. Baki, of course, was happy to see them go even if he wasn't actually there to see them off. Actually, Calixta was surprised and even a little overwhelmed by the group that had gathered to see them off. The others weren't surprised by this and were actually a little annoyed that she was so surprised.

She was also pleasantly surprised when Gaara followed them for the first full day of travel and stayed the night in their camp that night.

"If I had known he was coming with us, I would have brought a larger tent for you," Kakashi teased as she started setting up her things several yards away.

She blushed a little, "I'm sure we'll manage."

"Are you sure you're far enough from the rest of us?" he teased.

"Should I move further away? I'm sure you realize that my safety is not an issue no matter where I pitch my tent," she countered.

"No," he shook his head, "I think this will be fine…as long as you can keep your voices down."

A short while later, while the others were settling in, Kakashi left to go gather wood and water, as it was his turn, leaving the group of young people unattended. After he left, she moved her tent another few yards further away from their camp before starting dinner.

"So you cook for these guys all the time?" Gaara pressed somewhat protectively as she chopped vegetables to throw into pot over the fire.

"Not all the time and it's not like I have to. I rather enjoy it actually. It gives me something to do," she shrugged.

"Tch," Naruto teasingly scoffed. "I dunno what your problem is. She cooks for you all the time."

"First of all, we're not together all the time," Gaara snapped rather harshly. "Second," he sighed, "I don't make her do it by herself."

That made Sasuke laugh a little. "Yeah but she doesn't contribute to camp any other way."

His tone made Gaara angry but she interrupted before the feeling could grow. "It's true. Well, I stand watch too, but that's just sitting around for a few hours," she laughed. "And really, I don't need any help. This is sort of a one person job until it's time to do the dishes."

"And Kakashi-sensei hasn't let you take a single watch on this whole trip," Naruto quickly pointed out.

Calixta grinned almost sadly, "I think that's because he could feel how badly I wanted to get ahead of all of you."

"Not that it did much good," Sakura grumbled.

"Sakura-san, I promise that I will make that up to you," she vowed.

She was about to say that was unnecessary but Kakashi was approaching and decided it was best to just let it go.

Naurto was supposed to take the first watch but they were all still up talking by that time so Kakashi decided to go to sleep. Just to be on the safe side, he had pitched his tent in the distance between Calixta's and his students', which surrounded the fire, leaving him out of earshot of their quiet conversation. Part of him wanted to stay up and at least listen to them talk but he was so exhausted from the events of the last two weeks that he couldn't keep his eyes open even if he wanted to.

"I'm surprised you two are still up," Naruto noted shortly after Kakashi retired.

Calixta smiled at Gaara as she continued to pet the sleepy pup in her lap, knowing that the only reason they were still sitting by the fire was that he enjoyed the feelings of camaraderie he gleaned from her while in the presence of the others.

"Not that they'd be sleeping," Sasuke chided.

Gaara shot him a careful look. He wasn't going to argue with that but he also wasn't willing to let him get away with saying anything further.

Sakura just rolled her eyes.

"I'm just glad you set up her tent as far away as you did…not that it'll make a difference," Sasuke continued with a grumble.

Gaara was about to stand but the way Satu moved into his lap made him stop. Sasuke sneered and turned away, annoyed that she was thwarting his antagonizing. They chatted for another hour or so before the couple retired for the evening. Naruto and Sakura soon followed suit, leaving Sasuke alone by the fire. Though, he didn't feel very alone.

Long after he could still swear he could hear them giggling and moaning and it was starting to drive him crazy. Furious, he stormed over to their tent and gave it a rather violent shake. Calixta shrieked with surprise. Satu barked defensively as she nipped at the teen's ankles.

"What the hell?" Gaara demanded as he pulled away from the warm body beneath him.

Once she recovered from her surprise, Calixta could speak but she was cut off by the disembodied voice outside their tent.

"Keep it down!" Sasuke scolded.

"We weren't making any noise!" Gaara argued.

Sasuke scoffed and Satu growled up at him for it.

Calixta gave a heavy sigh, "Here," she told Gaara softly, "I'll take care of this."

He didn't want to let her take care of it, at least not by herself because he disliked her tendency to self-deprecate for the sake of others so Gaara followed her out of the tent.

Sasuke sneered at the way Calixta was hastily pulling her dress into place as she emerged. That look only deepened when Gaara shirtlessly followed.

"What seems to be the problem?" Calixta asked in a quiet, even voice.

"The problem is that I can hear you from all the way over there," Sasuke angrily pointed to the fire glowing dimly in the distance.

Calixta frowned. "I didn't realize we were being so noisy."

"We weren't," Gaara bitterly interjected. "I think he was just listening too hard." To his surprise, Satu yapped in agreement.

"I don't even understand why you're here in the first place," the dark-haired teen snapped.

"I'm here because I want to be here," Gaara growled, taking a defensive step forward and almost pushing Calixta out of the way in the process, something that only served to further agitate her canine.

"Well, nobody else does!" Sasuke countered.

"I do," Calixta quietly interjected which took them both aback because although her voice was nearly a whisper her tone was strong and defiant rather than meek or hesitant.

"And you only want him here because you can't control yourself," her teammate harshly sniped.

"That's it," Gaara grumbled and was about to punch Sasuke in the nose when Calixta started to walk away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke demanded, a strange feeling of déjà vu prickling his subconscious.

She turned with a slight glare. "One of you will follow me and bring me back to camp before sunup," she informed before running as quickly as she could in a random direction.

Gaara grumbled and started off after her.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Sasuke called after him.

"You don't honestly believe she wants you to follow her over me," Gaara scoffed, only slowing slightly to speak.

"I don't trust you to get her back in time," Sasuke countered.

"That's a chance you're just going to have to take," the redhead called back but then stopped to face the young man following him. "If I didn't think you'd bitch about how loudly she moans for me, I'd bring her back as soon as I found her."

"No one wants to listen to that. I was just the only one with enough guts to say anything about it," he contested but the way that Satu was chasing him and trying to pull him back made him second guess himself.

"Look, I know you're probably a bit pissed that she didn't settle for you. That's why I've been so nice but if you don't back off, I'll have to resort to more drastic measures," the sand ninja warned.

"I never wanted her! As far as I'm concerned, you can have her. She's all yours! Go ahead and have your fucked up little romance, just don't shove it in everyone's faces!" Sasuke yelled back and this time actually pushed Gaara.

Satu growled defensively at the sudden physical aggression.

The shorter teen narrowed his eyes dangerously as he encased Sasuke's feet in sand. "That should hold you until I find her," he vowed and then disappeared.

Sasuke growled and thrashed in frustration but to no avail. Fortunately, Gaara either found Calixta quickly or he got tired of holding him because his feet were released a few minutes later. Feeling defeated, Sasuke hurried back to camp with Satu close at his side. Unfortunately, Kakashi was waiting for him.

"What was that all about?" the sensei demanded even though he had heard most of the exchange.

"They were being obnoxious. I just wanted them to be quiet," he grumbled.

"I didn't hear anything and I was much closer," the older man pointed out.

"Then you were sleeping very well," Sasuke muttered.

"I awoke when you stormed by my tent so I doubt I was sleeping that soundly," he dismissed. "Why don't you tell me what this is about?"

"I already did. I was tired of listening to them screw," he repeated.

"And I told you that they weren't making any noise," Kakashi insisted. "Even if they were, you shouldn't have been able to hear them from the fire if I couldn't hear them from here," he motioned.

"I don't care what you didn't hear. I heard it and I was tired of listening to it!" he snapped.

"I hope for your sake that Gaara gets her back before it's time to leave in the morning," Kakashi mused darkly.

Sasuke gave a wary look upward.

"'Cause if he doesn't, I'm taking the others home and leaving you here to find her and bring her back yourself," he warned. It wasn't he most grueling punishment he could think of but it seemed fitting since he was the one who had scared her off. However, he wanted to save some of his wrath for Calixta for running off like she did, even if it was one of the quieter ways of resolving the conflict.

"Yes, sir," Sasuke agreed and then cringed a little.

"What's the matter now?" Kakashi pressed.

"They must be on their way back," he informed.

"What makes you say that?" the sensei continued to question.

"I can hear her giggling from here," he grumbled.

Kakashi paused to listen. "I don't hear anything," he insisted.

They waited another five minutes but Kakashi still didn't hear whatever sounds were plaguing his student. "I think you're imagining things," he dismissed. "Why don't you get some rest?"

"I'm not imagining it," he insisted willfully. "They must be doing it on purpose, staying just far enough away that you can't hear," he proposed.

Kakashi sighed. "Okay, you go back to your post and I'll look around to make sure they're not lurking about, okay?" he proposed.

Sasuke sighed but because he could still clearly hear the sensual sounds the couple was making, he agreed and went back to his seat. He was more than annoyed when Satu tried to climb into his lap and pushed her away so that she was resting a few feet from him instead. Kakashi returned half an hour later empty handed.

"I'm sorry but I didn't find anything," Kakashi informed in a whisper as he sat down.

Sasuke gave an indignant grumble.

"But you can still hear them?" he presumed.

"Yes," he snapped.

Kakashi frowned and moved around in front of his student. "How about now?" he asked before covering Sasuke's ears with the palms of his hands.

When Kakashi let go a moment later, Sasuke frowned. "Yeah…I could still hear'em," he muttered.

"Then it is in your head…" Kakashi grimly surmised.

Sasuke grew a little sick to his stomach. "If it is, then it's her fault," he asserted, once again earning a growl from the dog sitting a few feet from him, this one a little quieter.

Kakashi frowned as well but it was hidden behind his mask. "I doubt that," he countered.

"Sensei, I-" Sasuke began but was cut off.

"Don't say anything. Just go to bed. Try to get some rest and try to ignore them," he advised.

Sasuke, feeling even more defeated than on his walk back to camp, went to his tent and slipped into his sleeping bag. To his surprise, when he tried to relax, he was reasonably successful and actually managed to fall asleep for a few hours before he heard the others stirring in the morning. He stayed in his tent for a few extra minutes and found that the sounds that had plagued him were gone. With a sigh of relief, he exited his tent to find Calixta happily humming next to the fire as she added a few extra ingredients to stretch the stew from the night before into a decent breakfast.

"Good to see you made it back in time," Sasuke grumbled to Gaara as he started to pack up his things.

Gaara just smirked and gave a curt little nod.

As she was serving them, Calixta whispered to Sasuke, "We will speak later," she informed.

Sasuke grumbled but didn't say anything because before he could, she had already moved on.

Gaara said goodbye shortly after breakfast and the party from the Leaf left a little while later. As they traveled, Kakashi confronted Calixta. He made sure that the others were far enough ahead that they wouldn't eavesdrop before speaking his mind.

"Something really disturbed Sasuke last night," he began.

"I noticed," she curtly replied.

"He blames you. Do you know what it was?" he pressed.

"I'm not sure I can explain it…or if he'd want me to if I could," she answered. "But I was already planning to speak to him about it."

"I see," he frowned. "Keep me informed," he ordered before taking the lead again.

That evening Calixta confronted Sasuke during his watch.

"I'm sorry that we bothered you," she began.

He scoffed. "Little good that does me."

"What happened last night…wasn't my fault," she asserted.

"If that's what you wanted to tell me then you can just shove off. I don't wanna hear it," he snapped.

"I was searching for so long…" she muttered.

"What?" he questioned incredulously.

"Someone told me once, a very long time ago, that I would be fortunate to find even one person in this life that could make me happy and that I could do the same for," she continued.

"Looks like you found him pretty easily to me," he grumbled.

"I can see how it might look that way…but that doesn't mean I wasn't searching in the meantime. I wasn't just going to wait for someone to fall into my lap," she informed.

"So? What's that got to do with what happened last night?"

"Sasuke…I never thought I'd tell you this…but there was a while when I wondered if maybe you were the one I was searching for," she admitted.

"What are you saying?" he nearly gasped.

Calixta leveled a serous gaze on the teammate that she had grown the closest to. "I never meant to lead you on…but I'm afraid that you might have been hearing us with your chakra rather than your ears," she told him.

"Why would you do that?" he growled.

"Whatever you felt was unintentional and a result of how close we've become so if anyone is to blame, we both are," she asserted.

"Don't blame this on me! I didn't want to listen to you!" he seethed.

"Why can't you see that it was just a side-effect of a larger issue?" she sighed with exasperation.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What larger issue would that be?"

"That you've developed an affection for me," she informed.

"An affection for you?" Sasuke nearly shouted with incredulity.

"Keep your voice down or you'll wake the others," she glanced over her shoulder to make sure they hadn't already and was pleased to find that they were still sound asleep, with a bit of help from her.

"Of all the arrogant, ridiculous things!" Sasuke scoffed.

"I'm sorry that it wounds you to talk about it like this but it really shouldn't wait. I can tell how much your eavesdropping bothered you and I wanted you to know that I was trying to cut you off but I was afraid to do it so suddenly…I thought it would disturb you even more…" she babbled and then trailed off.

"You pity me?" he questioned incredulously, his stomach turning a bit at the feeling.

"Only a little," she admitted. "It would be easier for you if you still disliked me as you once did."

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to you accuse me of having feelings for you while you feel sorry for me!" he whispered harshly as he stood and stormed off but she followed him.

"Sasuke, please…I never wanted you to feel that way," she pleaded.

"Then why wonder if I was the one for you?" he accused.

"Because wondering was about all I could do," she managed. "But I realized even before I got to know Gaara that kind of relationship wouldn't work between us…so I just took what I could get from you and tried to leave it at that."

"Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone if you knew it wouldn't work?" he pressed.

"Because you were the only one who would let me into their heart that I didn't feel any of that kind of affection from," she reasoned. "You must be better at hiding your true feelings than I thought," she grumbled.

"I never felt that way!" he reasserted fitfully.

She paused for a long moment to study him and when he wouldn't look at her, she moved around to force eye contact from him. She could sense too many different emotions to find what she needed so, without asking, she took his hand in both of hers.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" he jerked away but she wouldn't let go.

Calixta made a small sound of frustration but managed to hold on long enough to find what she needed. Once she was sure of what she felt, she let him go, letting him stumble backward a step from the force of his own resistance. "You only really started to feel this way recently…" she informed.

Sasuke glared at her ability to judge the newness of the feeling that he himself had only just begun to realize. "I don't feel anything!" he protested, not because he didn't believe her but because he wanted her to leave him alone.

Calixta sighed and frowned a little. "Okay…if you decide you want to talk about this, you know I'll listen…and if you don't want to talk to me about it, then at least say something to Kakashi-sensei. He's really worried about you," she told him and then with a sight bow, she left him to finish his watch in peace.

The dark-haired teen swore to himself for a few minutes before returning to his seat. Even when he retired after his watch, he didn't sleep. He was too busy thinking about what Calixta said. He was similarly plagued by a lack of sleep for the rest of their trip back. It wasn't until the final morning as he lay half-asleep in his tent, listening to Calixta prepare her breakfast, that the pieces started to fall into place.

He realized that he did have some kind of special feelings for Calixta but it wasn't exactly love. It was more like a protective sort of feeling. But that feeling had developed over the course of their relationship. However, it was part of the reason he felt the way he did now. Over time, she had come to rely on him to a certain degree and now that her relationship with Gaara could now go unimpeded, he felt a withdraw from her that left him feeling more than a little useless. It was that feeling of uselessness that made him so angry and instead of dealing with the source of the anger, he unconsciously reached out to her to test the bounds of their relationships.

What really bothered him was that he liked the idea that she had relied on him. She had shared things with him that she didn't dare share with anyone else, that is until Gaara came along. He knew they were a good match and he would never even entertain the idea that she would prefer a relationship with him over that of the sand ninja, or anyone else of that matter. He had never wanted anything like that from her but the dependency had still been there and he had found it oddly reassuring that she needed to lean on someone at least a little bit to get by. With that thought, Sasuke felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders and he exited his tent feeling almost as refreshed as if he had gotten a full night's sleep.

Calixta immediately recognized the peace in him and simply smiled when he emerged as she continued her morning ritual. She smiled again when she saw Sasuke accompany Kakashi on his morning water run.

"Sensei," he began carefully as they filled the buckets.

"Yes?" he prompted expectantly.

"About the other night…you were right. It was all in my head," he admitted reluctantly.

Kakashi was surprised at the sudden admission. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I'm sure and it won't happen again," he promised.

Kakashi secretly pursed his lips in thought before replying to that. "I see. In any case, I think it would be best if you two suspended your training activities for a while. I want to see how she does now without you helping her so much," he informed somewhat knowingly.

"Uh, yeah, okay," the teen hesitantly agreed. He hadn't exactly been planning any encounters with her, but he also hadn't considered letting that go entirely.

Fortunately, now that Sasuke understood what he was feeling a little better, he was able to overcome the difficulties of that evening and he and Calixta resumed their training activities a few short weeks after their return.


	28. Outburst, Outgrowth

It was hard for Kakashi to believe, but after their return from their rather stressful mission in the Village Hidden in the Sand, Calixta seemed much more at ease and so did everyone else around her. She radiated an air of happiness and confidence that he had rarely seen in her and her positive attitude seemed to rub off on those who interacted with her. Normally, he would have been pleased, and taken the sense of ease as an affirmation of his gut instinct that he had done the right thing. However, his gut was also telling him that this was just the calm before the storm.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, which was why he only entertained the feeling in the back of his mind, but he knew better than to completely ignore it. So, over the passing months, as she was trusted with increasingly complex missions, Kakashi made sure to keep an extra close eye on her. This was also becoming more difficult because not all the missions she was sent on were with him or his team. This was why he partially blamed himself for what happened on Calixta's last mission for the Village Hidden in the Leaves even though he knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent it.

* * *

They made camp for the night at the hot spring that Calixta had stopped at with Kakashi's team during her journey to their village. Shortly after the moon started to rise, Calixta decided to take advantage of the natural spring and casually excused herself to do so. As she slipped into the steaming water, she felt every muscle in her body relax. It was rare that she felt that way but it was almost always around Guy that it had happened.

Guy poked at the fire for a while as he thought over the events of the last few days. They weren't terribly remarkable, which was nice for a change, but he couldn't help feeling closer to Calixta if only because they had spent so much time together recently. He learned that she had a deep respect for him and not just because he was able to resist any sort of attraction he felt toward her.

Feeling a bit lonely and more than a bit dirty, Guy decided that it would be okay to join Calixta at the spring. He knew it was large enough that they could sit at opposite sides and not risk seeing more than necessary through the thick steam.

She was almost asleep when he approached and didn't stir as he stripped down. Only when he tossed his things into a pile a few feet from the mouth of the pool did she bat an eye. If her skin hadn't already been pink from the hot water, she would have blushed profusely at what she saw.

She had never seen Guy completely naked before, though it was a thought she entertained from time to time, and much to her surprise, it made her nose bleed just a little to see him so suddenly exposed to her like that. She could see the sculpted shape of every muscle and as her eyes raked over his body, she didn't think twice before her gaze stopped at his flaccid length as it dangled out of the bushy hair between his legs.

Guy was oblivious to her gawking and only turned his attention to her when she turned her head to avert her eyes. "I hope you don't mind terribly," he suddenly apologized, having not really considered that he might make her uncomfortable.

"Ah, it's okay. You just startled me," she managed as he slipped into the water.

Once he was submerged past his waist, she could look at him again. "I didn't mean to. You were just so peaceful that I didn't want to interrupt so I didn't say anything."

"Thank you," she managed before dunking herself in an effort to both clear her thoughts and to wash away any of the blood that remained on her upper lip.

When she didn't say anything after that, Guy didn't think anything of it but when the silence was no longer comfortable, he felt obliged to break it. "Is there something the matter?"

Calixta rolled her eyes even though she knew he probably wouldn't be able to see it. "It is very warm," she complained as she pulled herself out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool. It allowed her to escape most of the extra heat but it also allowed her to see him a little better.

"Yeah, I usually prefer hot springs in the winter months," he agreed. "But I haven't showered in days and I didn't think you'd wanna keep traveling with me if I stunk," he teased.

She just laughed because she had thought once earlier in the day that the older man was in sore need of a bath. "It is understandable," she nodded, reaching for her towel to dab the sweat from her brow.

She was able to keep her thoughts to herself until he started to actually bathe, rather than just soak in the warm water. "Guy-sensei," she suddenly blurted out.

"Yes?" he distractedly prompted.

"Is this some kind of test?" she asked almost shamefully.

"A test?" he repeated as though he didn't understand the word.

Sensing that he was genuinely confused, she frowned and sank back into the water. He couldn't help thinking that she almost looked like a shark or a crocodile as she slowly swam toward him.

"You are truly puzzling," she informed as she snatched the soap from his hand and started washing his back.

"Ah, Calixta-san, I really don't think-" he tried to protest.

"You don't think you should have someone else help you clean the wounds you cannot see?" she interrupted challengingly.

He complied and let her wash his back and clean the few scratches that he had gotten there. To his surprise, she withdrew when she was finished. He could tell she wanted to keep touching him but for some reason, she didn't. "Thank you."

"Would you let me heal them for you as well?" she proposed through an intense blush.

"It's not that bad…I really don't think that's necessary," he managed but her disappointment was almost overwhelming.

"I know you can't see it, but my breasts are already leaking. Seeing your wounds triggered the reflex that lets that happen," she informed as even as she could.

"Oh…I didn't realize…" he replied, though he felt very foolish for having not made that connection. So, he grabbed her by the hips and set her on the side of the pool where he could stand and nurse her at the same time.

She was fortunate that he didn't see the way her eyes dilated with lust when his mouth first touched her. However, he couldn't help noticing how her limbs were slowly starting to snake around his body or the way her breath was starting to come in heated gasps.

"Calixta, are you okay?" he asked genuinely.

She tried not to whine at his withdraw and was reasonably successful. "Uh, yeah, please, continue," she panted.

He was reluctant but complied, knowing it was in both of their best interests to finish as quickly as possible, but before long, she couldn't take it anymore. With a great cry of frustration, she used both her hands and her feet to push him off of her. "Ugh, stop, please," she cried as he went crashing into the water.

Guy resurfaced a second later, obviously confused and disoriented. "What's the matter?" he asked as soon as he could.

"Don't come any closer!" she nearly shouted, trying to scoot away from the edge of the pool but largely failing because her body was still aching to touch him.

"Hey, it's okay, settle down," he tried to ease, slowing his advance but not stopping.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she fretted.

"I-I didn't realize that I was doing anything wrong," he admitted. "You've seemed so comfortable around me recently that I didn't think it would be a big deal. I'm sorry I upset you."

Calixta gave him a hurt little frown because she knew his intentions were nothing but pure, as they always were. "I know… I should be the one apologizing, if I were allowed to," she added with a grumble, "I should have said something when you approached but you startled me so badly…I guess I lost my head," she reasoned even though her head was still spinning.

"It's alright. I understand," he tried.

"No! You don't!" she shouted. "You can't!"

"If you care to try to help me understand, I will listen," he insisted.

"You mustn't," she pleaded but found herself crawling back toward him once again. Every time she brought a hand forward, he could see her fingers tremble until they once again met the ground. "Please, it's too much."

"Please, forgive me," he bowed and exited the pool.

His sudden departure greatly disturbed her and she wildly chased after him. "No, please, don't leave me…" she pleaded desperately.

"I-I don't know what to do," he admitted through gritted teeth, keeping his eyes firmly shut so that he wouldn't watch her struggle. Hearing it was bad enough.

"I know…just-just don't leave, please," she bowed deeply when she realized that regaining her footing was next to impossible.

Guy gave a heavy sigh went back to the pool but when she started to sob, he couldn't help going over to her and holding her in his arms, letting her cry into his chest as she weakly grasped at his naked body. Luckily, to his surprise, it was more comfortable to sit with her like that than it had been up to that point.

"Why are you in so much pain?" he finally asked when the tide of emotions seemed like they were starting to wane.

She faltered at the question and pulled away. "I miss him terribly…" she sniffled.

"You mean Gaara," he assumed.

She nodded and felt a new flood of tears welling up in her eyes at the sound of his name. "It's been so long since I've seen him," she complained.

"I thought the two of you were in constant contact," he tried.

She nodded. "I don't know how I'd survive if it weren't for that…but it's not enough. It's just not enough."

"Shhh, it'll be alright. You'll see him again soon enough," he attempted to soothe but it didn't seem to be helping.

"And on top of that you come strolling up, all naked and sexy as casually as you'd walk down the street with me," she ranted, her eyes once again raking over his toned body.

Suddenly, Guy felt very exposed and shifted to cover himself a little better. "I didn't think you would care. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen you naked," he reasoned, with a blush. "I should just go. Thank you for healing my wounds," he scrambled away from her. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose, but he could feel a lot of emotions from her and it was really starting to unnerve him.

"No, please," she scrambled after him, managing to grasp his ankle with a surprisingly sure grip. "You never ran from me before."

"I'm not running from you," he shook her off and stood, gathering his clothes and holding them over his groin. "I'm trying to help you. It greatly disturbs you to see me like this so I'm just going to let you be because I don't know how else to help you. I am truly sorry," he bowed and tried once again to leave her.

"No!" she suddenly stood and ran after him, tackling him to the ground. "I won't let you tease me!" she tried to pin him but she was so much shorter than he that it was extremely difficult.

"I'm not trying to tease you," he asserted a little more loudly than intended.

"I won't let you test me either!" she retorted.

Guy gave a sigh of slight annoyance at her persistence. "I'm not testing you either."

"Then why leave me so half-satisfied? Don't you know how torturous it is to be left wanting so desperately?" she pleaded.

"You don't really want me to act on you like that," he asserted surely.

She whimpered. "I don't want you to tempt me and tease me either."

He sighed again. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just finish what you started, please," she offered her still leaking breasts to him.

"That's it?" he tested.

"That's all," she assured.

"And you're not going to push me away again?" he continued.

Calixta blushed. "I did that so that I wouldn't just jump on you."

"What makes you think that you won't try to do that again?" he proposed warily.

She faltered. "I-…I can't guarantee that…but I'm willing to do what you wish if you can think of something that would prevent that and still allow you to proceed."

He couldn't help finding her stammering eloquence endearing. After thoughtfully pursing his lips, he nodded and led her back over to the pool, if only because it was warmer.

"Put your hands behind your back," he ordered after getting her to sit partially in the water with her legs folded beneath her.

She complied and soon found her hands fixed behind her. Before she could speak, he went back to finish what he had started. She couldn't help squirming against her invisible bindings but it didn't seem to faze him.

He had expected a bit of a struggle, even if it was simply the instinctive struggle against physical restraint. What he didn't expect was the way her knees slowly slid open beneath the surface of the water. He might not have even noticed it at first, if not for the feeling of the water moving between them. With a sigh of regret, he put his hands on either of her knees and pushed them back together.

Because Guy didn't stop nursing from her as he preserved her modesty, she didn't notice until it was too late that he had stuck her legs together. "Aaah," she gasped, "It seems so cruel…" she complained.

"You know it's for the better," he chided, only breaking contact with her for a moment to do so.

"Uh-huh," she whined and bit her lip but that didn't quell the little sounds of pleasure she was making for him. Normally, directly healing Guy like that, not that it happened very often, didn't have such a drastic effect on her but that night was different. She was terribly lonely and hadn't had a lover since they left the Leaf. On top of that, having him parade around in front of her like that, well, it certainly wasn't helping.

Before long, he noticed that her cries were growing increasingly desperate. He was just about to pull away to ask what was wrong when she spoke. "D-Don't stop," she stuttered harshly. "I have to so please don't stop."

Initially, he didn't know what she meant but when her cries became even louder and more heated, he knew what she on the verge of orgasm. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad but it seemed he would be able to get away with doing no less than giving her that. He worried that she might not be willing to leave it at that, that she would try to get more out of him.

It amazed him how easily she came once she had told him that was what she needed. However, it did bother him a little that he had to keep a hand on her side to keep her from falling over. He was also a bit unnerved by how when she did orgasm, it seemed like the remainder of the milk in her breasts shot out in various directions in thin little streams.

As she panted and tried to regain her bearings, Guy started to let go of her bindings. He watched her relax significantly, though he could tell she felt more than a little foolish. "Thank you," she bowed.

"Think nothing of it," he dismissed.

"I…should probably go to bed now…" she informed.

He didn't like the way she didn't really look at him anymore. It was almost like she was looking past him, her eyes obviously unfocused. But, once he realized that she was doing it intentionally to help quell any further attraction to him, he breathed a sigh of relief and let her go. "Sleep well, we have quite a ways to go tomorrow," he called after her.

She nodded and disappeared around one of the bushes. Once she was out of sight, she snuck around to watch him finish bathing by himself. She even touched herself a little as she watched him. She wasn't sure if he could tell whether or not she was still lurking around but he didn't show any outward indications of his awareness.

Guy knew she was still sneaking around and made sure to be as discrete as possible as he finished bathing. In a way, he couldn't help feeling bad for Calixta. If she were allowed to be with Gaara more often, then it was unlikely that she would digress into such a state. To a certain extent, he was more than willing to humor her and help her get through all that but their relationship was different from most of her relationships. He knew that even with the way she was behaving toward him, that she still wanted him to resist her down to the bitter end, and it was sure to be bitter with as bizarrely as she was acting.

He was surprised that she didn't confront him when he got back to camp, or even on his way, instead opting to hide inside her tent when he approached and not emerging until after he had fallen asleep.

As Calixta ducked into her tent, she couldn't help feeling rather silly and more than a little embarrassed. She tried to sleep but tossed and turned and before she even realized she had exited her tent, she was stealthily crawling into Guy's. She was more than a little impressed with her ability to sneak up on him and bind his arms and legs to the ground without him waking, though he did stir once or twice because she had a hard time not touching him. Then, once she was sure he was secure, she started to focus her chakra on him.

Guy woke when he started to feel his member starting to stir to life. It was so sudden that it almost startled him and when he finally opened his eyes to see Calixta sitting at his side, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Calixta," he gasped with worry, which doubled when he failed to sit up.

"Please, don't resist me," she pleaded, pulling his covers away.

"Calixta, don't do this," he tried to reason. "We'll be back in the village tomorrow. You can have whoever you want then. You won't have to settle for me," he tried to make it sound like it was really worth the wait and that he would be a waste of her time.

"Please, I need it now…or the pain will come back again," her trembling hands started to pull away his clothes now as well.

"You are stronger than that. Don't give into a mere desire," he continued but it earned him a harsh slap.

"Don't ever say that again!" she said, looking up with wild eyes as he blinked with confusion at her sudden assault. "To me, there are no mere desires! Every want, every need, every single desire comes to me!"

"You can block it out," he insisted.

"I'm tired, tired of blocking it out. The wall is crumbling. If you want me to crumble as well…then keep holding me back," she snapped.

"Please, Calixta, just let me up and we can work this out," he almost pleaded.

"You don't even need to move an inch to work this out. See? I'm even making it super easy for you," she rationalized.

"Being restrained doesn't make things easier," he griped, still straining against her bindings but finding that the more he struggled, the more sure her hold seemed to be.

"You should have thought of that earlier," she sneered but then her smile returned immediately once she had managed to free his partial erection. "Besides, now you can blame me for everything. No one will think twice to question your position here."

"I won't play your victim," he asserted and this time mustered up enough of his will through the fog she was creating in his brain to almost break free.

Seeing his shoulders raise off the ground made her uncomfortable and she slipped over to straddle his hips, pressing down on his shoulders with her hands. "Then you won't have to play…" she told him darkly, setting her open, dripping slit down on his half-flaccid length and rubbing herself on him.

"Calixta, what's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?" Guy tried not to panic even though panic seemed to be the only thing keeping his erection in check.

"I don't expect you to understand. You cannot feel this the way I do…even if I wanted to, I couldn't share it," she retorted through a little moan.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he pressed.

"Because when others assume that I have full control, it helps make that closer to a reality. When they doubt me, I can sense it and it's very difficult not to be affected by it. It's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy." She stopped babbling to moan as she started to approach orgasm from rubbing herself on him.

"Calixta, please, don't do this! There has to be another way!" Guy pleaded when he started to feel himself grow hard under her wet, twitching sex.

"The only other way is for you to take me yourself!" she insisted, whining because his resistance was impeding her orgasm.

"You know I can't do that," he complained, renewing his struggle.

"Then you will just have to suffer through this for me," she asserted but he continued to resist so she decided to take a risk and release his arms, which immediately went to dislodge her. Of course, she was ready for that and took his hands in her own. "Do you want to suffer?" she asked in a dark voice.

"Neither of us has to suffer," he insisted but his argument was cut off by a surge of emotional pain that rippled through his body. "Aaagh," he cried, throwing his head back in agony. "Stop! Please!"

"That is what I feel when you resist me," she informed, letting the wave of pain subside in favor of indulging her pleasure instincts.

"No, please…" he pleaded.

"Sensei," she whined rubbing herself harder until she came.

Guy used her moment of ecstasy to reassert control over her. The hardest part now seemed detangling their fingers so he could throw her off. This time he was successful.

"Aaah! No! Don't fight me!" she nearly raged and pounced on him again but her control over him had been mostly severed and he was able to easily pin her to the ground.

"Go back to your tent now and I will forget this even happened," he bargained, pinning her face down with significant force.

"No! I won't give up on you!" Her chakra surged again, causing another ripple of pain through Guy but this time he was more prepared for it.

"I won't let you take advantage of me," he asserted.

"I won't let you tease me anymore!" she struggled.

With a sigh of regret, he put her into a choke hold and forced her into unconsciousness. Then, he redressed himself, scooped her up into his arms and carried her home, leaving their camp behind, and hoping that no one would see fit to disturb their meager campsite in the meantime. When she first started to stir, they weren't even halfway to their destination so he stopped for a moment to put a sleeping ward on her forehead so that she would remain unconscious until arrival.

It was about midmorning when he arrived, out of breath, at Kakashi's doorstep. He set her down on the swing and forcefully knocked on the door. "Kakashi! Open up!" He heard some shuffling from inside but decided to reassert his presence. "Hey! Open up! It's important!" he continued to knock loudly.

"Ugh, what is it?" Kakashi finally answered. Apparently, he had decided to sleep in that morning.

Guy motioned to the sleeping young woman on the porch swing.

"What about her?" he slowly drew closer.

"There's something wrong with her," Guy curtly replied.

"Like what?" he nudged her but she didn't stir, speaking to the strength of the ward that Guy had stuck to her.

"She's…overly aggressive," he managed.

"She does have an aggressive streak but I don't think I've ever seen her go overboard with it. Did she come onto you?" Kakashi asked, obviously a little amused.

"This isn't funny. I traveled all night, carrying her, to get her to you so that she-" he suddenly stopped himself and looked away.

"So that she what?" Kakashi eagerly pressed.

"Let's go inside," Guy suddenly turned and entered the house, leaving Kakashi to carry her inside.

"What's the deal?" Kakashi asked as he set her down a few feet from the sitting table.

"She…" he clenched his jaw angrily. "She tried to force herself on me," he informed in a harsh, albeit awkward, voice.

"What?" Kakashi almost started laughing.

"I'm serious. It was bad. She wasn't herself," he insisted.

"Okay, okay," Kakashi eased. "What happened?"

"She…snuck into my tent while I was sleeping, bound me to the ground and tried to take advantage of me," he unwillingly elaborated.

"She tried to, so she didn't succeed," Kakashi tried to verify.

"Not entirely," Guy shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"How far did she get?" he pressed.

"I wasn't ever erect enough to penetrate her but she still managed to…orgasm at least once anyway," he managed even though there was a large part of him that was becoming increasingly angry that he had to divulge so much information due to the nature of her abilities.

"I see. That is unusually aggressive for her. I assume you resisted her every move?" he questioned presumptuously.

"I did…even when it didn't seem to do much good," he grumbled. "But that's not what really worries me," he added regretfully.

"What really worries you then?" Kakashi pressed with an almost morbid curiosity.

"She was willing to hurt me to get what she wanted," he reluctantly answered.

"I don't believe that," Kakashi sternly denied.

"It's the truth," he asserted indignantly, obviously greatly displeased by his comrade's disbelief.

"Guy, I have never had a reason to doubt your judgment but Calixta's abilities do not function that way. If her partner is in pain, then she cannot find pleasure from them," Kakashi argued.

"I realize that. That's why I think there's something seriously wrong and why I rushed to bring her here. She made me feel pain so intense that it made my vision blur," he contested. "I think the only reason I didn't throw up all over her is because she wouldn't let me," he added with obvious disgust.

That deeply disturbed Kakashi. "I'm going to wake her. I want to see if she can explain her actions."

Guy appeared apprehensive.

"Would you like to step out or even leave while I do so?" he offered as he moved over to the young woman.

"Thank you, no. I'd like to see this through as well as I can," he offered.

"As you wish," he nodded and pulled away the ward.

Calixta awoke slowly, blinking at the harsh daylight that streamed into Kakashi's house. "Sensei?" she asked, obviously bewildered as she tried to sit up.

"Easy now," he helped her sit.

"Where-?" she looked around, "Why am I here? Did something happen on the mission?" she started to fret, cradling her head.

"You don't remember?" Guy gasped.

"Were we attacked?" she assumed.

"No, _we_ weren't attacked," Guy answered.

"Then what happened? Why are we here?" she questioned, still feeling a little dizzy.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Kakashi asked gently.

"Remember what?" she tried not to demand.

Kakashi pursed his lips, unsure how to deliver the news. "You…attacked Guy-sensei on the last night of your mission."

"I did what? That's impossible. I would never-" she tried to argue.

"You did," Guy suddenly asserted.

When he spoke, she finally turned to face the green-clad man. As soon as she made eye contact with him and saw the hurt he was feeling, the memories came rushing back to her. "Aaagh," she clutched either side of her head. "No!" she suddenly scrambled away, obviously distraught. "Oh god," she sobbed.

"She remembers," Guy grimly surmised.

"I am so sorry…that's not enough…I hurt you…on purpose…how could I-? The drive was too strong…but that…I should have just run away…but you wouldn't let me!" she ranted.

"You never tried to run away," Guy contested evenly.

"How could I? Oh god, why?" she sobbed. "How can you stand to even be in my presence?"

"Calixta, please, calm down," Kakashi coaxed.

"How can I possibly calm down? Do you know what I did?" she shook her sensei by the shoulders.

"Guy explained the generalities to me. I would like for you to explain to me what you remember," he continued.

"No, to relive it like that would be to do it all over again," she denied.

Kakashi continued trying to calm her but it only seemed to aggravate her further so, when she started sobbing uncontrollably, letting her torrent of emotions crash over them unabated, he slapped the ward back onto her forehead and caught her before she fell.

"Well, that was helpful," Guy grumbled.

Kakashi gave his friend a dark look over his shoulder. "I didn't want to believe you but you're right. There's something seriously wrong. Did anything else happen?"

Guy shifted and looked away. "Like what?"

"You know she's very sensitive. If she was already having an issue of some sort, anything could have set her off so whatever you can tell me would be helpful. I might be able to discern what the problem is if I could figure out what it was that set her off," he reasoned.

Guy regretfully rehashed the other relevant events and could tell that Kakashi was greatly displeased.

"You paraded around in front of her naked at the hot spring?" Kakashi demanded, slamming his fist down on the little tea table. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"I told you. She hasn't made a sexual advance on me since the night she came to apologize to me. She seemed so completely comfortable around me that I honestly didn't think it would bother her," he tried to defend.

"How could you be so blind?" Kakashi accused. "Couldn't you sense that she was at least uncomfortable?"

Guy sighed. "I couldn't sense anything like that from her until she started to approach me," he admitted. "I really tried to both accommodate and deter her. I thought I was successful… I guess I was wrong."

"Even so…it doesn't really explain her attacking you. That's just a symptom to the larger problem. Did she say anything?" Kakashi tried to reason.

"She was lonely. She misses Gaara terribly," Guy barely replied.

"You are poor substitute for Gaara," Kakashi laughed. "Which might explain part of why she behaved as erratically as she did."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. They both nearly jumped out of their skin at the politely timid tapping.

"Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi questioned incredulously when he opened the door. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"What's wrong with Calixta?" he asked.

"Come in," Kakashi sighed. "There was an incident on the way back from her mission with Guy-sensei."

Sasuke walked right up to her and looked down at her sleeping form.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Guy rudely asked.

"I wanted to warn you…that she's calling for Gaara," he quietly replied.

"Gaara?" Guy gasped.

"Who else?" Sasuke almost snickered.

"He will undoubtedly respond," Kakashi sighed. "Which means we only have a short amount of time to figure out what happened."

Sasuke gave an equally heavy sigh and sat down next to her. "Let me help."

"What can you do?" Guy tried not to scoff.

"We need to speak to her about what happened. Can you keep her calm enough for that if we wake her?" Kakashi asked genuinely.

"I can give it a shot," he agreed, leaning over and taking her hands into his own. "Just…give me a minute."

"Of course," Kakashi agreed and sat back down with Guy.

"You really think he can help?" Guy pressed.

"I think he's got the best shot out of anybody," Kakashi conceded.

"Let's hope that's good enough," Guy leaned back to watch the younger pair a few feet away even though they weren't moving.

"We'll see," he sighed. He had more to say but stopped because he could hear Sasuke starting to mumble to Calixta.

"Calixta," the young man began, his voice barely audible.

She gave no outward response.

He repeated her name a couple more times before saying anything else. "He's coming," he finally said and felt her chakra ease. "But before you can see him, you have to tell us why you sent for him," he muttered quietly. Again, she gave no visual sign of recognition. He turned back slightly to speak to the older men, "I think we can try it now."

Kakashi nodded and pulled away the ward. This time, she awoke much more gradually. "Sasuke?" she asked quietly. "I'm so confused…" she complained.

"I know," the teen grumbled. "And it seems your confusion has spread."

The two sensei sat back for a moment and watched as she screwed her eyes shut and clutched Sasuke's hands hard enough to turn both their knuckles white. "Aaagh," she cried in anguish.

"Hey!" Sasuke suddenly raised his voice. "Now's not the time for that."

"Take it easy," Kakashi put a careful hand on his younger student's shoulder. "Calixta, we just have to know what made you act the way you did."

"I'm so sorry," Calixta started to sob.

"This doesn't seem to be helping," Guy grumbled.

Kakashi gave a dismissive hand motion but before he could interject Sasuke's chakra flared. "You are not permitted to apologize!" he asserted.

"You're right; no apology could possibly make up for what I did to you," she desperately replied and even though her eyes were still fixed on Sasuke, she was obviously not speaking to him.

"Stop it!" Sasuke nearly shouted.

"Sasuke, just concentrate on keeping her a little calmer, please," Kakashi finally interjected. "Now, Calixta, please, just tell us why."

When she tried to tell them, her gaze grew distant and she started to shake a little. Sasuke was the one who actually formed the words and spoke them for her. "So lonely," he quietly replied as he fought the urge to pull away from her.

To maintain her contact with Sasuke, Calixta spoke the next part herself, "And you were always so unattainable, so resistant. I don't know what came over me. I couldn't hold it in any longer. My attraction to you was almost as overwhelming as trying to keep it from you," she rambled. Then, she stopped shaking and her eyes darted around the room in seemingly random directions. "Let me go," she pleaded.

Sasuke shot his sensei a questioning look.

"Let me meet him halfway. He needs to know the nature of my suffering," she pleaded.

Kakashi sighed. She was begging to leave but had yet to pull away from Sasuke. "If he's coming anyway, it might be best to simply wait for him."

"No! Please!" was all she could manage but Sasuke picked it up for her.

"Sensei, I will go with her," the young man offered.

Kakashi appeared pensive for a moment. "Okay, go, but come back as quickly as you can and bring both of them with you," he ordered.

Sasuke nodded and tried to let go of her but found she wasn't ripe that idea.

"D-Don't let go, please," she whispered.

Sasuke gave an annoyed little sigh and only let go with one hand, which she found acceptable.

"We'll go part of the way with you," Guy suddenly decided.

"What for?" Kakashi questioned.

"Because we didn't clean up our campsite from last night. I still have to go back and get all our stuff."

"I-I should help you…but I don't know if I can go back there," she offered weakly.

"Don't worry about that," Kakashi dismissed, "I'll take care of that for you but you probably will want to stop and gather up some of your things."

She gave a meek little nod and they all left together a short while later. As they traveled, she insisted on trying to keep a pace that was much faster than she would be able to maintain. Since she wasn't inclined to let go of Sasuke's hand, this was of great annoyance to the young ninja.

"Slow the hell down!" Sasuke finally ordered after the third time he thought she might yank his shoulder out of the socket.

"I can't," she protested.

Sasuke glared. "Yes, you can. You just don't want to," he sniped.

"He's drawing me to him," she confessed.

"I realize that but you want to go to him just as much as he wants you to come," he contested.

"Which only makes me want to see him all the sooner," she argued playfully.

"Which means you're only making a bigger ass of yourself by rushing to him like there's no tomorrow," he curtly demeaned.

"There is no tomorrow without Gaara," she barely uttered and then tried to let go of Sasuke's hand. To her surprise, he wouldn't let go. "Let me move at my own pace then, if you can't keep up."

"No, you're going to slow down so that you're not exhausted when we get there," he asserted.

"If you don't let go of my hand right now, I will share with you all the pain that I have felt since he and I have been apart," she threatened.

Sasuke interpreted that as, 'Keep holding on to me and I will show you why I'm acting this way.' So, he tightened his grip. When she hesitated, he scoffed, "I knew you couldn't do it."

"I don't want to because I'm worried that it might be particularly damaging to you. You understand loneliness and anguish and resignation and a lot of the other things that I feel and you've felt them more deeply than almost anybody that I know," she explained. It was much of the reason why she had wondered if he was the one for her during their first few months together.

Unfortunately, he took that more as a challenge than a deterrent. So, with a sigh, she let some of her emotions go for a moment before focusing them on him. If it had been a gradual display of her emotions, he might have been able to cope with them. As it was, as soon as he started to feel her pain, his breath hitched, his knees tried to buckle, and he could feel stinging tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Without thinking, he gave a growl of frustration and stumbled toward her.

She wrapped her free arm around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder, watching the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Come get me when you're ready," she told him in a quiet, gentle voice.

Sasuke tried to hold on, it really felt like he was holding her hand almost tight enough to break her fingers but he felt it easily slip down his side a moment later, just before she laid him on the ground. She knew he was absolutely furious with her and ran away as quickly as possible.

To her surprise, she ran into Gaara by nightfall. "Ai-sama!" she called when she first caught sight of him in the distance.

He knew she was close and once he could see her, he redoubled his pace, catching her in his arms and falling to the ground a moment later. "What happened?" he asked before giving into the urge to kiss her.

"I hurt someone very dear to me…" she confessed.

"I can tell. But why?"

"Because I can't stand to be away from you any longer. I know I said that we have obligations to our villages but…I can't take it anymore. I have to be with you," she desperately replied.

Gaara knew, deep down, that he was at least partially responsible for what had happened, whatever it was, because he had missed her terribly as well, almost to the point of depression. "I know," he petted her hair. Then, with relative ease, he was able to get her to tell him, in rather painful detail. "I can't believe I did that…and to do it so intentionally," she sobbed into his chest.

"I know. It'll be okay though. That man is wise enough not to hold a grudge like that. He may be wary of you for a while but that is to be expected," he eased, with rather startling success. He understood what it was like to be so incredibly frustrated and the drive to violently take it out on others, which was most likely what gave her the extra edge to do what she did.

A few quiet moments passed before Sasuke finally caught up with her. He was still furious but glad that he didn't have to travel as far as he thought he would to get to them. Apparently, Gaara had gotten a head start on them.

"Calixta," Sasuke called from a few feet away. "We have to go back now."

Gaara gave a defensive look and held her a little tighter.

"All of us have to go back," Sasuke qualified, which seemed to ease the sand ninja. "Let's go," he motioned and to his surprise, the pair stood rather promptly, brushed themselves off, and followed.

"Thank you," Gaara told Sasuke once they got going.

He shot Calixta a suspicious look before replying. "Whatever," he dismissed.

"Do you intend to tell Sensei how we got separated?" Calixta asked suddenly.

"We didn't _get separated_," Sasuke was quick to correct. "You ditched me."

"Regardless of exactly what happened, do you plan to tell him?" she pressed.

He could tell she really, really didn't want him to. She felt that she had caused and was in enough trouble as it was that adding that on top of it was only going to make matters worse. "Why shouldn't I?" he countered. "Do I get something out of keeping your secret?"

Gaara took up a more defensive posture but allowed her to answer.

"Well, I was just thinking that the whole matter was rather embarrassing…for _both_ of us," she mused with overt casualness. "I was thinking that it was of mutual benefit for us to keep it our secret."

Sasuke sneered at her for a moment. That had been the main reason why he wasn't planning on saying anything to anybody about what she had done to him. He didn't want to admit, even in his own mind, that she had so quickly and completely overwhelmed him. Just the same, he had been hoping to get something out of her for it. "Fine," he grumbled.

She gave a little bow of genuine thanks that he tried to ignore.

* * *

Because Calixta was so exhausted from the events of the last couple of days, they decided to take a few hours that night to rest. However, only Calixta slept. Sasuke watched from a few feet away as the couple settled in next to the fire. They sat on the ground but he allowed her to rest her head in his lap, affectionately stroking her hair until she fell into a natural sleep.

"Thank you for bringing her to me," Gaara said once he was sure she was sleeping soundly enough not to be woken by their conversation.

"I did it for Sensei," Sasuke resolutely replied.

"Of course," Gaara placated. "How's your training going?"

Sasuke gave a grumble of indignation at the question but if anyone but Kakashi had a right to ask, it was Gaara. "Well enough," he replied simply.

"Well enough for what?" he pressed.

"Well enough not to stop," Sasuke curtly replied, a slight smirk dancing across his lips as he looked up to see the other's reaction.

Gaara simply gave an approving nod and then looked back down at her, admiring her relaxed features. "Then I'm sorry to say that you won't get to do it nearly as often anymore," he mused.

Sasuke could hardly believe that Gaara was actually sorry about that fact but the tone of his voice reflected a certain level of sincerity that he didn't expect. "Why's that?" he questioned evenly.

"Because I'm taking her back with me. Though, you may still visit her if you like, of course," he conceded.

"What makes you think they'll let you take her like that? She still has several months of work left to do in our village before she can go," the older teen was quick to point out.

"They will just have to understand that for as much good as your village has done for her, keeping her there like that is now doing more harm than good," Gaara reasoned.

"Why don't you come to live with her then?"

"It sounds like you don't want her to leave," the sand ninja pointed out.

"I just don't think that you alone should dictate what's best for her. She has far more friends here than she does in your village. Taking her away from all of them could do just as much harm as what you're talking about," he argued.

"It's what she wants as well," Gaara informed.

"Is it? Or does she want that because it's what you'd rather? It would be much easier on you to have her move rather than do it yourself," Sasuke pointed out.

"I think you'll miss her," he mused with a gentle smile directed downward at the woman asleep in his lap.

Sasuke scoffed. "This isn't about me!"

Gaara made a sudden motion to keep his voice down. They hadn't been settled for more than twenty minutes and he didn't think that was enough rest for Calixta before traveling the rest of the way. "You are right about that but she is less obliged to stay in your village than I am in mine. And she is quite adept at making friends. I doubt that she will have any problems with that. Besides, I'm not going to take her right away. She'll need at least a few days to pack and get her affairs in order."

Sasuke sighed, feeling very defeated and didn't continue his argument. It was obvious that there was no convincing the sand ninja so he stopped trying. He figured that if he was right, he wouldn't be the only one to raise the kinds of objections he had and perhaps then he could persuade the other young man.

When Calixta awoke just under two hours later, they quickly resumed their journey. They went first to Kakashi's house. By that point, Guy was gone. He didn't want to face Gaara, at least not right away. At that point, Sasuke was permitted to leave, though he knew he would be called upon again before too long to discuss the affair.

Once his remaining two guests were seated, he sat down with them. "I'm glad that didn't take as long as I anticipated," he mused. "Gaara, you had a head start, didn't you?" he playfully accused.

"So it seems," he agreed with a slight nod.

Kakashi looked at Calixta for a second. "Does that mean that you didn't realize you were calling him to you?"

"N-No," she put her hands up defensively. "I'm sure I wasn't. I didn't start that until after I woke up here the first time. I got really freaked out and when I couldn't wake up, it was the only thing I felt like I could do," she admitted.

"But you left even before that," Kakashi pointed out, looking back to the young man.

"Yeah, I did," he conceded.

"Why?" he pressed curiously.

Gaara had been expecting the tone to be more accusatory. Since it was spoken so sincerely, it took him a little off guard and he was willing to indulge the intrusive older man. "I was coming to beg her to come stay with me," he admitted boldly.

Calixta gasped because she could feel how much effort it had taken him to say that. It almost made her tremble but she held it back for the sake of his pride.

"I see. So…you called her then," he mused with a slight chuckle. "Calixta, do you remember that feeling, that drive you mentioned earlier?"

She faltered for a moment and suppressed the memory of the feeling. She swallowed hard, "Uh, yeah, I do," she nodded.

"Good. Don't forget it," he ordered, which almost made Gaara smile.

"Yes, sensei," she vowed.

"But you didn't start to feel it until I got closer," Gaara informed.

She was a little startled by how sure he sounded. He wasn't speculating. He was sure. It made her wonder about her abilities. "Perhaps I'm not as adept at sensing you as I thought."

"No," Gaara was quick to argue. "You are adept but you have to filter through all the other garbage you deal with on top of it."

"He's right," Kakashi was quick to agree. "So…what are your plans?" he finally asked.

Calixta's gaze fell. "If it is at all possible, I would like to leave with Gaara and stay with him."

"Why don't you look at me when you ask that?" Kakashi prompted, a little irked.

She gave a heavy sigh and forced herself to make eye contact with him, "I wish to leave with Gaara and live with him," she asserted.

Kakashi swallowed hard. He had been expecting a feeling of some sort but he hadn't expected it to make his stomach turn. "I'll see what I can do," he told her as evenly as he could.

"I can't stay here too long and I'm not leaving without her," Gaara informed but then, after a chiding look from Calixta, he added, "…please."

Kakashi almost laughed but couldn't manage it. He almost wished he could because it had a chance of lifting his spirits. He knew that Calixta wouldn't stay in their village forever, even when she talked about making it her home, something about it didn't quite seem right. He didn't expect it to happen so suddenly and he found it very difficult to control the almost overwhelming disappointment that was starting to creep over him as he let them leave so he could go discuss the matter with Tsunade.

"That went reasonably well," Gaara commented dryly.

Calixta nodded but kept her gaze downcast.

"What's the matter?" he asked taking her hand as they walked.

She looked around and gave a great sigh. "I will miss this place."

"I know but you know you can always return whenever you like," he reminded.

"I know…" she sighed. "And I'm sure that I will learn to think of your village as my home…I could call any place where you are my home," she almost giggled, lightening the mood considerably.

That made Gaara smile. "And we shouldn't just up and leave right away."

"Oh? How long do you have before someone catches up with you this time?" she teased.

He laughed. "Actually, I have permission to be here this time."

That made Calixta beam.

"Father told me to take as long as you needed to get things in order," he informed with the slightest hint of pride in his voice.

"That's wonderful. I don't generally like long farewells but there are so many people to see and things to do…the extra time will be very appreciated."

"What would you like to do now?" he asked, looking around to find that it was just barely starting to get dark.

"I dunno," she shuffled her feet a little. "I'm tired…"

He nodded. "If you wanna to lay down, I'm sure I can entertain myself," he offered.

"I'm sure," she teasingly chided. "I think Lee-san has the night off."

Gaara snickered. "That's not what I had in mind."

"I am tired…but I don't want to go to bed just yet. My mind is still racing….though, I'm not quite sure what I do want to do at the moment," she giggled. "Ugh," she gave a tired sigh, "I'm just so tired of thinking…"

"Then let me think for you for a while, until you're ready to think for yourself again," he teasingly offered.

She smiled and moved in closer to him so he could wrap his arm around his waist. "That sounds wonderful," she closed her eyes and let him lead her wherever he pleased.

* * *

It was hard for Gaara to watch Calixta say good bye to all her friends. He had never experienced anything like that himself so he wasn't exactly prepared for how emotional those moments could be. There were several occasions when he actually had to excuse himself before he started to cry sympathetically. It wasn't ever too bad but even letting a few tears slip in front of anyone but her was something that he would not do. Naturally, she understood and let him be but others took notice. A few even told mentioned something to her about it but he never heard those conversations.

It also didn't take long for word of her departure to spread throughout the village and she had visitors by the following afternoon, many of them bearing some sort of gift.

"If you get any more going-away presents, we're going to need a second cart," Gaara teased, though he was obviously more than a little irked.

She laughed it off. "That's why I've started giving them something in return."

He had noticed that as well and wasn't quite sure how he felt about that but she seemed to enjoy it so he let it go. Even if he had intended to continue their conversation, he would have been interrupted by the knocking at the door. Since Calixta was in the middle of packing a box of the select dishes that she wanted to take with her, Gaara took the initiative and answered it.

"Hey Gaara, is Calixta home?" Naruto greeted as merrily as he could in spite of his disappointment at her sudden departure.

"Yeah, in the kitchen," he opened the door and let the other young man in.

Naruto didn't notice but he was one of the few people that Gaara didn't hesitate to let into Calixta's home. If it had been just about anybody else, he would have hesitated, if only for a moment, to let them in.

"Wow, it looks so empty already," Naruto awed sadly.

Calixta gave an empathetic nod as she taped up the box she had just finished packing. She knew that the last couple of days in the Leaf would be the most difficult because that's when her dearest friends would undoubtedly visit.

"You need any help moving stuff?" he offered as he watched her carry it across the room and set it in a small pile.

"I don't think so," Gaara dismissed.

"Uh, okay…well, I brought you these," he pulled three bento boxes out of his bag and set them on the table. "I hope you haven't had lunch yet."

They sat down to eat and Gaara was surprised at how well Naruto kept his disappointment in check. In fact, he hardly felt it at all and you certainly couldn't tell by looking at the blonde that he was depressed. As far as Gaara could tell, Naruto was trying his damnedest to make the most of what little time Calixta had left with them.

However, that feeling didn't last forever. As Calixta was throwing away the remains of their meal, Naruto finally spoke his true feelings.

"I'm really gunna miss you," he sighed sadly.

"I know," Calixta sighed as she sat down with a fresh pot of tea since it was obvious that her young comrade wasn't quite ready to leave just yet.

"I'm sorry. I should try not to feel this way…" the blonde muttered when he caught a slightly disapproving glance from Gaara. "I know how it affects you."

"It can't be helped," she dismissed. "Just keep trying to smiling as long as you can," she suggested hopefully and was pleasantly surprised when the small grin that danced on his lips wasn't the least bit forced.

He stayed a while longer and chatted as they packed up the last of her things that she was going to take with her. He felt a little useless like that but with as quickly as Gaara dismissed his offer for assistance earlier, he wasn't going to push his luck.

Gaara said very little during Naruto's stay and when he did speak, it was mostly to Calixta. However, as Naruto tried to leave, he had a strange little tugging in his belly that made him speak his mind. As the blonde started out the door, he turned to Calixta, " Why does he feel even more disappointed now than when he arrived?" he questioned curiously in a hushed voice.

Calixta gave her love a sad little smile. "He wanted a goodbye kiss," she admitted.

Gaara only hesitated for a moment before replying, "Then give him one," he shrugged.

With a flash of a grin, Calixta hurried out the door and caught up with Naruto, catching him in a warm embrace. Before he could speak, her lips were on his and he was melting in her arms.

That was what Naruto had been craving, whether he realized it or not, but was held back by the notion of a disapproving Gaara, something he'd rather not deal with at the moment. However, when a bit of his sense returned and he started to kiss back, he felt only a strange sense of approval from the little tyrant, a feeling that was almost as unnerving as the fear of disapproval.

When they separated a moment later, both were blushing and panting lightly.

"Come visit me whenever you like and I will do the same," she vowed to him.

"Yeah, okay," he managed and was finally allowed to leave.

Calixta skipped back up to her house and scampered back inside. Gaara just shook his head in exasperation and closed the door behind them.

Kakashi was the last visitor she received before leaving the Leaf with Gaara and he arrived late the evening before her departure. Unlike her other visitors, he actually asked Gaara to leave so they could speak privately. The sand ninja was initially reluctant but acquiesced with only a slightly pleading look from Calixta.

"Thank you," Kakashi said once Gaara was gone.

"I know he makes you nervous," she replied almost sadly.

"Not as nervous as he used to," he admitted.

"So it seems," she giggled a little but then turned serious again. "I will miss you very much." He was, unknowingly, the only person she had said that to first. "You took such good care of me while I was here."

"I helped you take care of yourself," he corrected.

"I was wondering, if it was okay, since I won't have anybody like you where I'm going, if I could still call you Sensei?" she asked hopefully.

He hadn't really thought about what kind of relationship they would have after she eventually left their village. He knew that for all practical reasons, he would no longer be her sensei but he also knew that she was too sentimental to let that kind of relationship die like that. "I think that would be fine," he agreed.

At that, Calixta leapt upon him, knocking him to the floor, and pulled away his scarf so she could kiss him. To her surprise, he didn't resist her at all, even out of surprise. She smiled into his lips when she realized that he probably felt it coming. When they finally parted, she spoke, "I used to make you a lot more nervous too," she pointed out.

"I suppose so," he agreed with a slight chuckle. "And that goes both ways," he pointed out.

She continued to smile and went back to kissing him but a moment later withdrew with a slight frown. "What's the matter?"

"I'm not sure we should…" he trailed off as he looked down at the way her body laid on his.

"Isn't that why you wanted Gaara to leave?" she asked mischievously.

"You know that's not why," he scolded.

"Oh…" she sighed with mock-disappointment and started to withdraw from him.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and pulled her in for another kiss. They didn't do much more than that but when he left, he still felt oddly satisfied.

Gaara returned a short while later and didn't bother saying anything about her sensei.

"Good, you're back," she said when he returned.

He nodded.

"I want to leave tonight," she informed.

"Oh? Did Kakashi say something that bad?" he half-joked.

"No…it's just that…I know that everyone wants to see us off tomorrow morning and-" she began but he cut her off.

"Say no more. I understand. I'll start loading the cart," he agreed and started working.

They had originally wanted to borrow a horse to pull their cart but even with Calixta's empathy, the animals were too skittish around Gaara that they opted to pull it themselves since it wasn't too heavy of a load. That meant slower traveling but it was worth it for not having to tend an animal other than Satu, who was reasonably self-sufficient.

Once they were sure they had everything, the couple set off under the cover of darkness. Just as they reached the village gate and thought they would escape unnoticed, Sasuke's voice suddenly spoke to them from the shadows.

"So, you're just going to sneak away in the middle of the night? I guess I shouldn't be surprised," the teen taunted as he emerged from his hiding place. He knew Calixta wouldn't be able to handle the formal send off and would try to avoid that kind of emotional outpouring if at all possible.

"You know why we're leaving now," she replied simply.

"Yeah, I get it. You can't handle it," he scoffed.

"None of you would be able to stand it either," Gaara was quick to point out.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to you but you never tried to say it either," she informed.

Sasuke fumed for a short moment because he didn't think he should have had to be the one to make that move. "I'm not going to say goodbye because I know I'm not rid of you," he managed to sneer.

Calixta smiled brightly at him through the archway, dimly lit by a series of torches. "Yeah, I'll miss you too," she replied.

"Whatever. Just go," Sasuke dismissed.

She was about to when she received a strangely urging look from Gaara. It seemed her teammate's displeasure had spread. So, with a slightly challenging look, she quickly closed the distance between herself and Sasuke. He seemed to still revel a little in the significance of their height difference but she was unfazed.

"Thank you," she told him seriously as she looked up into his eyes. Then she lightly touched the back of is hand. "If you ever need anything, you know how to find me."

He was a little startled by her thanks and then just laughed at her offer. For a moment, that was all he could do even though the warmth from her touch was only slight because it made his breath catch. "Uh-huh," he rolled his eyes again and pushed her away. "Just go before anybody else sees you," he stepped away.

The dark-haired young man acted as though he was going to walk away but really, he was just looking for a better place to watch them leave. He had intended to watch them until they disappeared into the forest but didn't manage to stay that long because he could feel the pangs of sadness getting worse so he had to leave.

THE END

* * *

but not really...i have a couple of chapters that were fun to write that didn't quite fit into the overall story that i plan to publish very soon. then it will be over.


	29. Epil 1, Games

So begins a short series of incidents that didn't make it into the actual plot but were still fun enough to write that I thought I should post them.

This takes place between Gaara's father's acceptance of their relationship and when Calixta moves at the end of the story.

* * *

Shikamaru found Calixta one afternoon in the game center playing Go by herself. This perplexed him at first, since he had rarely seen her alone to begin with, let alone doing an activity that was designed for two people, so he watched her for a while. As he watched, he found that there was a certain method to her madness. She was playing solitaire, just none of the variations he had seen before. When she appeared frustrated, he decided to approach.

"Need some help?" he asked as he sat down across from her.

"Ah, Shikamaru-san, the game master," she teased. "Thank you but no. I'd rather not take the time to explain what I'm doing right now. It would break my concentration." Then, she looked back down at her pieces only to realize that her concentration was already broken. "Ugh," she brought her fist down on the table, rattling the pieces.

"What's the matter?" he asked curiously.

"It was a simple puzzle, really," she sighed, sorting the black and white markers into two piles. "But one I've never been able to master."

"You will have to show it to me sometime," he eagerly told her.

She smiled up at him. "If I do, then you will solve it and I will feel even more foolish."

He laughed at her a little. "Would you like to play a two-person game of Go?" he proposed.

"Oh, I don't think you'd really enjoy that. I'm even worse at Go than I am at silly little puzzles. For you, it'd be like playing a child," she teased.

Shikamaru gave a playful frown and took the black pieces. "Humor me," he suggested warmly.

Calixta gave a sigh of resignation. "Okay, but you might have to remind me of some of the rules," she chided.

Since she was humoring him, he decided to do the same when she started to make casual conversation with him. He didn't usually like to talk during a competition but as she had warned him, she wasn't much competition.

This meant that by the time they finished their third game, it was so late that they were alone in the game hall. Shikamaru also found that she was extremely observant and that he was rarely allowed to make the same move on her twice without her having designed a countermeasure. This pleased him greatly and even though it was so late, he wanted to keep playing.

"Oh, you win again!" she playfully pouted at his victory.

"So it seems, but you are getting much better. Would you like to play again?" he asked hopefully.

Calixta looked around as though it was the first time she was noticing that they were alone. "Perhaps…but we should make things interesting," she proposed.

"Interesting?" he almost swallowed hard at the word.

She gave a naughty little grin. "Why don't we play strip Go?"

Shikamaru gave her an incredulous look. "You haven't won a game yet, are you sure you should be betting?"

"Well, since you insist on staring at my chest, I thought you might actually want to see it…and if you're going to do that, I'd like for you to earn it," she reasoned.

Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat and he blushed furiously. "I wasn't staring!" he insisted angrily.

She gave a gentle smile. "It's alright. You were very discrete about it. I doubt anyone else noticed. So, you game?"

"What the hell," he sighed and gathered his pieces once again, thinking he had nothing to lose.

He won their next game and was only slightly disappointed when she decided to take her skirt off first. Staring at her legs was almost as good as her chest, so he let it go. On top of that, he found her underwear to be a very cute shade of red.

When she lost yet again after that, she gave a sigh and swung her legs out from under the table. "May I only remove one sock at a time? Or shall they come off together?" she proposed.

Shikamaru frowned but decided to play along. "One at a time is fine," he shrugged.

Calixta beamed at him when she realized that, for some reason, he found her only wearing one knee sock to be very cute. So, instead of losing their next game, she fumbled through it well enough to beat him right at the very end.

"Ah! Yatta! I finally beat you!" she got up and started dancing around.

Shikamaru stared, blinking uncomprehendingly at the game board, still trying to figure out how she beat him. "It was luck," he finally dismissed.

"Oh, no doubt," she agreed but didn't let it dampen her merriment as she plopped down in her seat. "So, what's it gunna be? You want me to put something back on? Or are you gunna take something off?" she offered.

He felt his heart skip a beat again. Somehow, this felt like the moment of truth. With a sigh, he pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it aside. He couldn't help blushing at the way she beamed at him.

"Another game?" she proposed.

Shikamaru sighed and once again gathered his pieces.

"You're being a very good sport about this," she complimented.

"Everyone loses sometimes," he replied evenly.

"Apparently," she smiled and made the first move.

"That was bold," he teased but only because either he had taken the first move or he had to insist that she do it.

"You think so?" she asked with a flirtatious little wink.

"Perhaps your minor victory has gone to your head," he suggested.

"We wouldn't want that," she giggled.

About five turns later, he noticed that she kept adjusting her shirt. It was only then that he realized that her breasts appeared much larger than they did when he first approached her. Apparently, it was making her uncomfortable but she was comfortable enough around him that she felt she could shift herself around in her remaining clothing as they played and chatted. "Are you doing that on purpose?" he asked after he made his move.

"Hm?" she distractedly replied, her hand now hovering over the game board as she analyzed her next move.

"You're trying to distract me, aren't you?" he playfully accused. "You think that you'll win if you distract me with your whiles."

She giggled. "Of course I am. Would you expect anything less of me? Would it be fair to ask you to hold back your strategic skills because I am not as skilled as you?"

"That's different. We're playing a game. If we were…doing something else, it might be more appropriate," he stammered.

"Oh? Is that what you'd rather? We can forego this deliciously playful foreplay if you really approached me for a sexual encounter, rather than to play a simple game of Go," she teased.

"That's not what I meant. Besides, you were the one who suggested we play strip Go. I was perfectly happy kicking your butt with your clothes on," he retorted.

"But isn't this game also about reading your opponent? Is it not just as important to be able to tell when you're leading me into a trap or if it's an oversight on your part? You've consistently taken advantage of the times when I've been frustrated or can't hide when I think I've made a good move."

"You've been using your chakra to tell what I'm doing!" he accused.

"Hm?" she prompted as she moved her piece.

"You're manipulating me. That's why I lost last time!" he continued.

"Oh, you give me too much credit," she dismissed. "Sensing the emotions you give off is something I can hardly help. Actually, you've got a pretty good game face, which is why it's taking me so long to actually get a good read on you," she admitted. "It's your turn."

With a disgusted grumble, he looked back down at the board.

"You are very wary of me, which makes it more difficult for me to sense what you're feeling," she informed.

"Are you telling me all this just to fluster me?" he griped.

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"You tell me," he sniped.

"Not really. I think you suspected as much when you approached me," she admitted.

Shikamaru shrugged. That much was true.

"So, you wanna keep playin'?" she proposed. "You should know that I have been trying very hard to play as well as I can," she vowed.

Shikamaru gave her a critical look and then moved his piece. "Your move."

Calixta smiled and they continued. Much to his dismay, he was removing his pants a few minutes later, as he didn't wear socks. She tried not to gloat and honestly wished him better luck on their next game. She had flustered him enough to throw off his game but that only made him more determined to win the next.

"You look uncomfortable," he noted with a slight smirk when he saw that her milk had started to leak out on its own to make little wet spots on her blouse.

She blushed deeply and looked away. "I've been more comfortable," she admitted, again adjusting her shirt.

"Why don't you throw this match so you can take your shirt off," he haughtily suggested, unaware that that was her intention the entire time.

However, when he spoke the notion aloud, he caused a sympathetic reaction in her and the flow of her milk increased. "After this game, I have to go," she admitted regretfully.

"Oh? What's the rush?" he nearly purred.

Now that she was starting to let go of her concentration, even just the sound of his voice was getting to her. She gave a little whimper before formulating her actual response. "I sort of missed my clinic appointment sitting her with you. They'll be annoyed but the night nurses are nicer anyway," she dismissed.

"Are you sick?" he suddenly questioned.

She laughed. "Of course not. It's so that they can express my milk. I'm sure you've noticed, it's a bit overdue," she dryly added.

"Oh…"

They played silently for most of the rest of their game until her shirt was wet enough to let some of the moisture seep all the way through, leaving little drops on the table between them. She even winced when her chest would brush against something due to the pressure inside.

"Why don't you let me-?" was as much as he could blurt out before he remembered himself.

"Hm?" she prompted again. "Oh, I couldn't impose on you. I know you're not my biggest fan so it's enough that you'd humor me for so long. Actually, I've really enjoyed myself, which is why I've put off my appointment as long as I have. I wasn't sure if we'd get to do this again before I forgot how to play," she laughed a little.

"No, really," he insisted, carefully moving around the small table to sit next to her.

Calixta gasped at his forwardness. "There you go again, taking advantage of me when I'm all flustered," she teasingly accused.

"I'm just trying to help," he told her his hands twitching with the desire to free her swollen breasts.

She gave a sudden whine of frustration. "They ache so badly. Sure, please, go ahead," she urged, reaching for her remaining buttons.

Shinji gladly helped her with that and awed at her for a moment once she was revealed to him.

"Oooh," she squirmed. "Don't just stare. At least massage them," she encouraged.

He didn't think twice before complying, with the way she spoke her request, there was no way he could. A moment later, his mouth was on one breast while his hand was on the other. Calixta gave a deep moan and wrapped an arm around him as her back arched, squishing his face into her breast. He gave a muffled little chuckle but due to the flood he had started, it didn't last long.

"I don't know how you can stand it," he awed the first time he broke contact in favor of easier breathing.

"It takes some getting used to," she admitted breathily.

"I dunno…" he teetered.

"It helps so many people, I would feel guilty if I stopped," she admitted almost shamefully.

He pulled back and gave her an incredulous look. "Helps people?" he scoffed.

She giggled a little. "I suppose you haven't heard. Those healing potions that they have at the hospital now, the new ones that are kinda sweet, that's my milk," she almost bragged.

He thought she tasted familiar but that was absurd, or at least seemed absurd, so he pushed it out of his mind. "I see," he replied before switching his attention to her other breast.

She was surprised to find that it didn't bother him. In fact, it seemed that because it caused her so much trouble, he had a certain amount of admiration for her continuing to do it in secret. She was practically in his lap when her other hand reached into his underwear and started to fondle his erection.

The sudden attention made him gasp and he immediately withdrew from her. "What-?" was all he could manage.

"You are being so kind to me. Please, let me reciprocate," she pleaded in a dark voice.

Her tone left no room for argument so he just nodded, almost dumbly, and went back to what he was doing.

"Here," she said, pulling away from him once her breasts were nearly equal size again, "before they get too small," she winked, pushing him down and pulling his erection completely free of his underwear. Then, before he could react, she leaned over and started squirting milk onto him.

He couldn't help the gasp or the way his hips jerked in response. Her milk was warm on his skin but he found it quickly cooled in the open air of the game room, leaving him almost straining for more to stave off the shiver. Then, in response to this desire, she brought her heavy chest down to rest on his hips for a moment before squishing them around his erection and massaging him that way. This time he gave into the groan welling up in him and it seemed to please her greatly.

Not long after, Shikamaru's hands started to get restless but they quickly found something to do. He started groping her breasts and playing with her nipples as she brought him closer to orgasm. The heated little whines she gave in response to him made his vision blur and before he realized what was happening, he was cumming in her mouth. Only after the fact did he realize she had ducked down just in time to catch the white fluid as it shot out.

Feeling dazed and satisfied, Shikamaru let himself lay back to try to catch his breath. However, she had other plans. She took him by the hand and pulled him back up, guiding his mouth back to her breasts. "Please, finish," she asked in a husky whisper. He gave a vague little nod and complied, finding her somehow even sweeter than before.

She was a little surprised that he didn't push any further than that but was willing to let him be. What they had going was pleasant enough not to interrupt with other things. When he was finished, she thanked him and asked what his plans were for the remainder of the evening.

"Uh, I was gunna take a shower before I tried to get dressed again," he admitted, motioning to the far side of the building where the locker rooms and showers were located.

"That sounds like a very good idea," she agreed as they started to gather up their clothes.

"So…who won that last match," he asked with a wink as they strolled through the quiet, empty building.

She gave a sly little grin. "What does your gut tell you?"

"Well, if it were anybody else and that happened, I'd say it was me," he admitted.

"Then you won," she conceded with an only slightly mocking bow.

"But it's you and it's really hard to tell when you're bluffing," he insisted. "Even when you do silly things like that."

"Oh, I wouldn't bluff you. It wouldn't be worth it," she dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"Liar. You sharked me," he accused as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"That's absurd. I'm just a quick learner, that's all. Since you're such a good player, I couldn't help picking up some of your moves. Actually, if you look at it that way, since I was using your techniques, even if I won, it was a victory for you," she reasoned.

He chuckled. "Okay. I'll accept that." Then, they were at the entrance to the locker rooms. He hesitated when she started to follow him into the door marked with the little man, rather than the little woman. "You're gunna follow me in here?"

"I don't see why not," she stepped ahead of him when he stopped. They were both mostly naked and carrying their clothes but she was obviously much more comfortable with that fact that he was. "It's not like there's anybody else here."

He gave a sigh of resignation and followed her in, feeling fortunate that she didn't seem inclined to share his showerhead, opting to take up the one next to it instead. He couldn't help watching as she pulled off her one remaining sock, dropping it in the little pile of her clothes, before reaching for her underwear. Normally, she didn't bother with them but in the colder months it was often preferable.

He hadn't really considered that their exchange a few minutes ago could have aroused her just as much as it did him and he awed at the way her wet panties stuck to her skin for a moment as she pulled them down. Then, as she bent over, he even caught a glimpse of her glistening heat. He hardly noticed the amused little grin she wore when she turned back to him because he was too busy noticing that as she drew closer to him, he could more readily smell her natural scent.

He mused for a moment, as she played with the shower knobs, that Kiba was right. She smelled sweet and musky, the kind of scent that crept up on you at first and, before you knew it, you couldn't get it out of your head. He had smelled it before, when his face was squished into her bosom, but he hadn't really noticed it at the time. Then, once they left the place of their passion to travel through the seemingly sterile halls of the game center, it was gone and he still didn't think anything of it. Now that her scent was present again, it almost made his mouth water.

"So, how often do you do this kind of thing?" he asked with genuine curiosity as he started his own shower, testing the water before stepping into the spray.

She appeared insulted but when she realized that was part of his intention, she tried to let it go. "I'm not sure I've done anything quite like what we just did. I tend to steer clear of public places if I've got that in mind," she answered evenly.

He didn't appear convinced. "But in private, I'm sure," he added as offhandedly as he could.

"Why are you baiting me?" she suddenly interjected.

"I'm just trying to figure out where I stand, that's all," he dismissed with a shrug.

"You're standing in the men's locker room at the game center next to the woman who just played your silly game with you, fed you, healed you, got you off, and pretty much entertained you all evening," she pointed out.

"Very funny," he snorted.

"What do you expect me to say?" she prompted earnestly.

"I want you to tell me what I should expect," he snapped.

She scoffed in return. "Why should you _expect_ anything?"

"Well, knowing not to expect anything is something," he sighed.

"Do you want more?" she asked expectantly.

"Well, no, not necessarily," he managed. "I just wanna know. Damn, why do you have to be so difficult about this?"

She giggled a little, even though she tried not to. "That's entirely up to you. I highly doubt that you'll develop some kind of silly romantic attraction to me so I'm not really worried about it and as long as I don't have to worry about that, then I'm willing to just let you decide where you stand."

"You got me there," he laughed a little. "So…if I wanted to do this kind of thing again, you'd let me?"

"Let you? That makes it sound like I don't get anything out of it," she dismissed.

"That's different. You were in pain. I was just horney," he countered.

"Don't dismiss my pleasure so easily. I nearly came when you did," she admitted with a slight blush.

"No way," he scoffed, looking down his nose at her.

Calixta blushed harder and looked away to really concentrate on washing herself. "Perhaps, if there is a next time, we could play together rather than against each other," she proposed.

"You want coop-mode," he mused, thinking that shouldn't be any sort of surprise.

"Yes, I rather like cooperation. If we work together we may accomplish more," she mused.

He watched, fascinated, as she washed her long, dark, flowing hair. When he was sure she was done rinsing out the conditioner, he felt the desire to advance on her again. With a single step, he passed from his shower spray into hers. "Let me finish you off then," he suggested through a profuse blush.

Calixta gasped and took a step back, finding her back very quickly against the tiled wall. "Y-You don't have to do that," she stammered.

"Oh, don't play coy now," he dismissed.

"I stopped playing games when you moved over to my side of the table," she snapped.

"Then you don't want me to?" he faltered.

"Oh," she sighed. "It's not that. I just want to make sure that you're not continuing to make advances because you think that's what you're supposed to do."

"Ah, you want to make sure my intentions are purely perverted," he snickered.

Calixta giggled at his words. "That's a very good way to put it."

Shikamaru grinned lecherously and brought one of his hands between her legs. Even with just that, he could feel the difference between the slickness of the water on her skin and her natural lubrication. He hadn't been able to see it but he could feel now that it was starting to run down the insides of her legs.

"You are really turned on. You want this. I can feel it," he nearly growled when his fingertips slipped over her clit, eliciting a heated gasp in response.

"Don't tell me things I already know," she snapped but much of the harshness was lost in the echoes of her hardly suppressed whines of pleasure as they bounced off the shower room walls. "You only reveal more of yourself that way."

"Testy too," he teased but his hand never stopped exploring. He found himself quickly fascinated by the expressions she would make and the kinds of sounds that went with them. On top of that, he could sense how much she enjoyed what he was doing and she didn't want him to stop any time soon which it made him very bold. There was a moment when he almost kissed her but for some reason, it just didn't seem right so he dismissed the urge.

Apparently, that was the right thing to do because he was rewarded a moment later by her finally leaning back against the tiled wall, and pushing her hips toward him. When she did that, he felt compelled to act again and slowly started to kneel before her, making sure to tease both of her nipples on his way down. "Ah, what're you-?" was as far as she got because she knew it was a rather silly question.

However, he was more inclined to deal with her silliness at the moment and decided to humor her. As he lifted her right leg to rest over his shoulder, he replied, "I wanna get a good look at what I'm workin' with here."

Suddenly, Calixta's entire body flushed. She knew it was inevitable that her younger lovers would bring with them a certain amount of curiosity and that meant that their glances at her sex usually tended to linger, but no one had attempted to actually study her before. Instinctively, she tried to coax him either closer to or further away from the part of her that begged to be touched, either one would do but he was stubborn and already had her on one leg.

Her flush deepened again when he felt him spreading her wide open to get a really good look at her. "If you insist on staring, you better learn something from it," she tried to gripe but because having her so totally exposed excited him so much, she had a difficult time really being stern with him.

Shikamaru just snickered and started to tease her entrance with the tips of his fingers. "Inside?" he simply proposed even though the way she was trying to press against them already gave him his answer. When she didn't respond verbally, he looked up to see her biting her lip and nodding her head. Hoping that a polite nod would help to excuse his delay, he started to slowly side two fingers inside her.

As he penetrated her, he found that he actually had to divert some of his attention to holding her knees apart as her body tensed around him. He almost laughed because he could tell that it was to keep him in rather than out.

"So, just in and out?" he asked almost haughtily as he slowly fingered her.

She shook her head no and held up one hand next to his face. With two fingers held out, as he had, she made a thrusting motion then, on the withdraw, she curled the ends of her fingers in a 'come-hither' sort of motion. She repeated that about two more times to make sure he saw what she wanted, at which point he put her suggestion into action and they were both greatly pleased by the results.

"Have you cum?" he asked seriously.

She laughed a little laugh that almost sounded crazy. "Not yet, but if you keep that up, it won't take much longer. You'll know…" she moaned.

He trusted her on that and kept going, alternating between watching his hand become coated with her thick juices and observing the changes in her taut facial expressions. He found the way her hair stuck to her wet, blushing body especially enticing. Then, as she drew closer to release, she made another suggestion. "Right here," she pointed to her clit, "With your tongue," she pleaded.

He didn't think twice before complying. Actually, he had just been considering the best way to go about tasting her and it only barely dawned on him that she might have picked up on that. As soon as he made that contact, her hips bucked and he had to use his other hand to help keep her up.

When she first felt her orgasm start to rush over her, she instinctively reached down and held Shikamaru's fingers inside her as far as they would go. "Ah! Just like that! Right there!" she encouraged.

He faltered, but only for half a second, when he realized she wanted him to keep wiggling his fingers inside her as he sucked on the hood of her clit. Her hands quickly found their way into his hair, gently tugging and pulling in time with her passion.

"I just hope you don't think that anything you learn from me would be at all relevant when dealing with other women," she panted.

He barely pulled away to respond, "It would be foolish to apply the same rules to two different games," he snickered and continued.

She loved that answer and came a moment later, his fingers rolling rhythmically inside her while he suckled her clit a little harder than he had intended to, but seemed to work out really well. As the rush of her release faded, he had to hold most of her weight as she slumped down to the floor, a silly smile on her face.

"Win or lose, that was very good," she giggled.

Shikamaru just gave an arrogant grin and backed off a little to give her room to breathe. "I play to win," he asserted playfully.

"Why do you insist that we are still playing a game?" she exaggerated the hurt in her voice to disguise how she really felt.

"Everything's a game," he shrugged.

"How trite," she grumbled, forcing herself to stand. "And here I was worried that I wouldn't be taking you seriously enough for your liking."

"Well, I'm glad we cleared that up then," he gave a mischievous wink. Then, suddenly, her entire demeanor changed. She appeared panicked. "Wh-?" was as far as he got before she answered.

"Someone's coming," she gasped.

"Should we hide?" he asked quietly.

"I don't think it'll do much good. They're sort of looking for me," she admitted. "So…you can hide if you want…if you're embarrassed to be seen with me like this," she baited.

It didn't matter if he was going to hide or not because their guest came around the corner with an audible gasp.

"Kiba-san," she said quietly without so much as a glance over her shoulder.

"Ah…I see my worry was misplaced. My apologies," Kiba chided to hide his embarrassment.

"Worry?" Shikamaru snapped.

"Satu was trying to look into the windows when we walked by. I gave'er a snack and she's outside with Akamaru now," he answered genuinely.

"Thank you," Calixta quietly said as she turned her shower off.

"Yeah…no problem," he scratched the back of his head nervously but still couldn't seem to stop staring at the naked pair. "So-ah, you two…" he made a suggestive hand motion but trailed off anyway when Shikamaru shot a careful look over his shoulder.

"But…you knew I wasn't in trouble before you got all the way here," she accused.

Shikamaru quickly turned his gaze back to her, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

"Tell me, was it the sound or the scent that tipped you off first?" she asked playfully as she turned from the analytical young man to his more instinctive counterpart.

Kiba frowned at being given away so easily. All he wanted was a chance to see her naked. He hadn't really been expecting anything more than that because every other time he happened upon her when she was already with someone, he was turned away. Of course, there had been more than one occasion when she had turned away others in favor of his company, so he couldn't really argue. Something was different.

"You knew and you came barging in here anyway?" Shikamaru snapped, whipping around to face his friend without thinking about the fact that he was still very nude.

"Dude, like you wouldn't sneak a peek. Besides, it's not like I saw anything," he shrugged.

"But you were kinda hoping to, weren't you?" she playfully accused, continuing her advance until they were almost touching. Then, she looked back over her shoulder at her original partner. "I think this player would like to show you how he plays the game," she proposed.

Shikamaru blinked with disbelief, his mouth agape, unsure what to say.

"Game?" Kiba repeated wearily as he took a step back.

She let him make his retreat with only a mildly disappointed glance. "Or not," she shrugged and started past the shaggy, young ninja toward where the towels were stored.

"What kind of game?" Kiba suddenly blurted out, making her stop dead in her tracks.

"Shikamaru-san is much better at explaining these kinds of things than I am," she motioned hopefully.

The still nude young man laughed a little at her attempt to corner him. It was way too obvious and he wondered if she had done it with the intention of failing. He wouldn't put that kind of tactic past her and decided to force her hand a bit. "I really must insist that you are far better equipped to answer his question," he replied evenly.

Calixta gave her first partner a careful sideways glance before creeping up behind Kiba. They were roughly the same height, making it very easy to whisper in his ear and quietly enough for the other to barely hear. "He is curious to see how someone else handles me," she informed in a husky voice. "He knows that it will be much different between us than it was between he and I just a few minutes ago."

"I see…" Kiba awed for a moment as he considered his options. They were giving him a chance to show off, to hot dog as it were, and he wasn't sure if he could pass that up. "And how was he?" he asked just as much to her as to the one observing them, eyes wide still with incredulity.

"Consider his nature, and you will save me some breath," she sighed. "He is the one who keeps insisting it's a game," she purred, moving around in front of him. "He is curious and I'm tired of thinking," she petulantly complained. "What are you?"

Kiba gave a deep sigh, with the unintended side effect of inhaling even more of her intoxicating scent. He looked over the young woman before him, musing that it almost looked like she was in heat, before suddenly turning her around and bringing both of them to their knees. Calixta gasped when her knees hit the floor and then started to push back against him. He wrapped his arms around her and started teasing her with his clothed length, squishing it between her ass cheeks.

Feeling more than a little awkward just standing there and watching them, Shikamaru started his own walk toward the towel closet. He didn't bother to try to hide the fact that he was staring at them because it was pretty obvious at this point that staring was perfectly acceptable. He only turned away for a second but by the time he turned back, she was on all fours with his body covering hers. Apparently, Kiba wasn't one to waste time because he could see, as he carefully walked back toward them, that Kiba's pants were now pulled down far enough for him to accomplish his goal. He even found himself licking his lips a little at the deep moan she gave when he entered her.

He watched from behind them, so as not to distract them with the sight of him, and laughed a little to himself at how right she was. Kiba's approach was much different than his own. The young dog lover was much more aggressive, forceful, and instinctively reacted to the movements of her body as she pushed back against him. He even thought he heard a low little growl of pleasure, though he wasn't exactly certain which one of them made the sound.

After a couple minutes, he moved around to face the pair. He wanted to see the kinds of faces that accompanied the delicious sounds she was making for his friend. Sometimes they sounded like little squeals, others were almost howl-like. She was no longer on her hands, having fallen to her elbows for support and leverage and he was disappointed to find her head down, hiding her face from him.

Feeling even more bold than the last time he made a move on her, Shikamaru carefully knelt down and lifted her chin. She didn't fight him. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the extra attention. He expected her to be put off by his curiosity and the way he wanted to watch her but it quickly became apparent that she was beyond that point now. Her eyes appeared unfocused, even though it still felt like they were making some sort of eye contact, and her mouth hung open, allowing her cries of pleasure to readily escape. Now that he was almost face to face with her, he noted that she was much louder for Kiba that she had been for him.

A moment later, when he noticed she was actually straining to keep looking at him, he let go of her chin and let her head hang again. It wasn't long after that she fell even further, her face and chest resting on the tiled floor. She had her hands planted on either side of her shoulders but as it was, she didn't have much more leverage than that required to keep herself from falling over. Not that Kiba would have allowed that to happen, he had followed her and now had one hand resting just below hers while the other wrapped around her waist. Kiba wasn't really that much taller than Calixta but their position made it look almost as though his body was completely covering hers.

"She's…" Shikamaru awed, "beautiful," then turned his gaze up to see if Kiba had heard him. When he received a vague nod of recognition, he continued, "How can you stand it?"

Kiba actually laughed. "She makes it pretty easy to deal with."

"Obviously…" he muttered, almost dumbfounded.

"Is this your first time with her?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Shikamaru nodded vaguely.

"Sorry to interrupt then," he snickered. "But thanks for gettin'er warmed up for me," he winked.

Calixta appreciated their desire for communication just not their timing so, since her hands were largely useless anyway, she brought one down to play with her clit, knowing the distraction would bring them back to the matter at hand.

Her first orgasm after she started touching herself resparked the fire in Kiba and he went back to ignoring their observer. Once she was sure she had his full attention again, she started to plead, "Harder, please," she muttered. "So deep…so good…" her hips rolled against him as he tried to obey her commands.

Because Shikamaru was so amused that she practically howled his name when he came inside her a few minutes later, Kiba felt a bit embarrassed at their display but the strategic young man didn't see fit to actually comment on it, so he tried to push that feeling down as he carefully set her down so he could sit on the floor next to her. What really distracted him from his own embarrassment was the way Calixta lay panting on the ground next to him. Her eyes were barely open but even from that, he could see that her gaze was unfocused.

It was more difficult than she expected to gather her bearings but since neither one of the young men with her saw fit to disturb her, she was allowed to collect herself in peace. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Just when she was starting to think she had a handle on herself, Calixta suddenly tried to bolt upward, which only served to make her dizzy as she weakly fell back to the ground, now with a much different look in her eyes.

She paused for a moment, ignoring the mutual, "What's wrong?" from the pair of young men with her, to make sure she sensed what she thought she sensed. "Shit. They'll cheat," she hissed under her breath.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru suddenly demanded.

"You have to hide me," she pleaded. "They're coming."

"Who?" Kiba suddenly stood, making sure he was completely dressed.

"They won't play fair. They'll cheat. Hide me," she frantically reasoned, hardly realizing that she was almost crawling into Shikamaru's lap.

"Hey, it's alright. We're done anyway, right? Come on, I'll get you a towel," he offered as he tried to stand but she held him fast.

"No time," she muttered and she was right. A moment later, Sasuke and Naruto came around the corner.

Sasuke managed to keep his schooled expression of mild interest while Naruto's eyes grew wide at what he saw. The blonde also couldn't keep from grinning at what they had happened upon.

"What do we have here…?" Sasuke crooned.

"We're done, dude," Kiba tried to coax them away. "We're just cleaning up and gettin' ready to go."

"Then you won't mind if I take a moment to look at her," Sasuke continued his careful, measured steps toward the prone woman.

"What for?" Shikamaru defensively questioned. He could feel her tensing in his loose grasp and it was really starting to make him nervous.

Sasuke sneered and pushed the naked young man out of the way, letting her fall to the floor before kneeling in front of her and lifting her chin. "Get up!" he ordered.

To everyone's surprise, Calixta was actually able to summon enough strength to sit up and face him. "Cheater," she hissed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took her hands, lacing their fingers together. Once he was sure she would accept his chakra, he blinked to utilize his sharingan to make sure their connection was secure before trying to speak to the others. "What happened?" he asked casually.

"That's none of your business," Shikamaru grumbled, covering himself a little better with his towel.

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll just have her do it," he dismissed impatiently.

"What're you guys even doing here?" Kiba turned to Naruto.

"Uh, we were walkin' home and he sensed something and wanted to check it out. If I'd've known, I wouldn't've let'im come in but he looked kinda worried," Naruto babbled.

"There was nothing wrong 'til you two showed up," Shikamaru snapped.

"You don't know," Sasuke dismissed. "Tell me, which one of you went first?"

Kiba and Shikamaru stood, mouths agape with astonishment.

"I bet it was Shikamaru," Naruto guessed and by the way the pair blushed and fidgeted, unable to refute, confirmed his assumption.

"Not that it really matters," Sasuke dismissed.

During their exchange, Calixta remained almost disturbingly still. Her eyes were fixed on the one holding her hands and her breathing had even leveled out. The others couldn't really see it, but every once in a while, Sasuke could feel her fingers twitching.

"What sort of game were you playing?" he finally asked.

"How did you know?" Shikamaru countered in a critical, even voice.

"She was babbling about cheating so I assumed you were playing some sort of game. She loves games," he mused, never taking his eyes off her for even a second.

"I-It wasn't really…" Shikamaru tried to explain. "She and I were playing Go earlier and then we sorta…got distracted, ya know?"

"She said you kept insisting it was a game," Kiba interjected, almost accusingly.

"And once she reaches a certain point, she tends to get stuck on certain things," Sasuke informed. "If you were insistent, she would latch onto that."

"Listen to you, like you know so much!" Shikaku tried to dismiss, hoping for a way out of the situation. Even if he was told to leave, at that point, it would have been less awkward than what was happening at the moment.

"He does know," Naruto argued quietly.

Kiba gave a resigned nod of affirmation as well.

After that, Sasuke took another long moment to really examine her chakra. "She wasn't expecting two encounters," he mused with a chuckle when he reasoned out the cause of the instability that was robbing her of her natural grace and eloquence. "It really threw her off."

"Threw her off how?" Kiba pressed, even taking an anxious step closer, but only venturing to go that far.

"Take a second to try to feel her out," he advised and the three others in the room redoubled their efforts in what they were already doing thanks to his encouragement.

The feeling of them all reaching out to her like that made Calixta's composure give and she let slip a little whimper as she squeezed Sasuke's hands and broke eye contact.

They weren't quite sure how to describe it but each of them could tell that there was some sort of imbalance in her chakra and it was most likely causing her bizarre behavior.

Since she had seen fit to break eye contact, Sasuke decided to blink away his sharingan, though he wasn't planning on letting go of her hands any time soon. He took the opportunity to look over the faces of his three comrades as they stood staring at them.

"So, what's the game?" he asked with a mischievously cocked eyebrow.

"No, you'll cheat!" she sudden yelled, trying to push him away but his grip was too sure and she only ended up nearly knocking herself over due to his resistance.

"Now, now, we can't cheat if we don't know the rules," Sasuke dismissed.

"Look, I don't think she really wants-," was as far as Kiba got before he was cut off.

All Naruto had to do to silence him was wave an authoritative hand in front of him. "I know it's bizarre but he usually knows what he's talking about," he admitted.

Shikamaru hesitated but divulged the information. "We were just joking around. We were showing each other what we liked," he tried.

Sasuke nodded in approval. Not a very competitive game but interesting nonetheless.

"That doesn't sound like something that you could cheat at," Naruto mused, obviously puzzled.

"Not just me," he looked back at Calixta, who was once again looking at him. "You too."

"I would never cheat!" Naruto swore rather loudly in the otherwise empty shower room, causing everyone but Calixta to flinch.

They flinched again when she replied, "Liar!" with almost equal volume.

"Damn, what do you two do to her?" Shikamaru gave a crude chuckle.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. If it had been just him, there were any number of reasons she might say that. However, paring the list to things that both he and Naruto did narrowed things down significantly.

"The sexy-no-jutsu," Naruto almost gasped after a moment. He knew she had a weakness to it but he had never gotten the impression that she thought it was a cheap move. Actually, she seemed to like it when they were together.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Sasuke smirked.

"You've got to be kidding!" Shikamaru gasped.

"That is cheating," Kiba scoffed.

Sasuke shot both of them a critical look. "You wanna see how we play?" he proposed haughtily.

"Sasuke!" Naruto gasped.

Calixta gave a little grumble of frustration but otherwise couldn't manage to speak. As they touched and spoke, Sasuke had managed to restore a fair portion of her chakra's stability. She was very close to being able to finish the process herself when he started to actually fight her a little instead of help her.

"If you do that, I won't be as nice to you as I was to either of them," she growled.

"Oh, don't pretend like you'll be able to handle yourself once Naruto and I assume female form. These two idiots practically shorted you out. You'll probably pass out from the blood loss," he snickered.

"I wouldn't let you do that to me," she hissed as dangerously as she could.

"You mean you'd quit pussyfooting around," he accused.

"Like she was holding back for us?" Shikamaru asked, but mostly muttering to himself.

"Duh," Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Well, pardon me for being the only one who hasn't been with her before," he grumbled.

"Naruto, you and Kiba get her cleaned up," he suddenly stood, pulling his hands away a little too easily for her liking. "You," he turned to her pile of clothes and, finding her purse, tossed her a hand-rolled cigarette. "Chill the fuck out," he ordered when Kiba caught the smoke for her.

"What about you?" Shikamaru snapped.

"We're gunna talk," he led him away from the others.

"Ugh, you're such a freak. Everything was fine until you showed up," Shikamaru protested quietly but kept an eye on her anyway.

"You probably would've gotten her home alright," Sasuke agreed. "I didn't know it was you guys, or I might've let it alone," he lied and glanced over to find Calixta glaring at him accusingly. He got the impression that if she didn't have to raise her voice to do it, she would have called him out on his mistruth.

"Okay…" he looked at his comrade. "So?"

"I want you to know that you can do pretty much whatever you want with her but you have to be mindful of the kinds of effects you, and others, have on her. I know you're really observant so as long as you don't just stop paying attention, it should be fine," Sasuke evenly explained, carefully looking back and forth between the three next to the shower and the one beside him.

Shikamaru scoffed.

"Of course, I'm sure you already realize that," Sasuke dismissed.

"Don't placate me!" he snapped.

"Fine, then here's the deal. From what I understand, your initial encounter satisfied her but then he came long," Sasuke motioned to Kiba.

"She invited him," Shikamaru clarified.

Sasuke appeared surprised by that, "Really…" he pondered. That changed things slightly and he couldn't help the suspicious sideways glance at the woman seated on the ground smoking her cigarette, much to the dismay of the two young men trying to make sure she was clean enough to get dressed. "That means she wanted you to overwhelm her."

"Neither of us knew that he was going to show up. She only noticed about a minute before he poked his head around the corner," he argued.

"So, she took advantage of his sudden appearance. Either way, she made a choice. She chose to let you two do what you wanted. She could have shown her control over the situation at any time, if she so chose." He appeared pensive for a moment.

"She said she wouldn't go along with you," Shikamaru reminded.

"She said she wouldn't make it as easy for us as it was for you," he eyed his towel-clad comrade carefully. "You might look at it like increasing the difficult of the game play," he placated but this time was better received.

"How do you _know_ that she could completely own us if she really wanted to? Isn't there a point where she can't do that anymore? Everyone has limits," he insisted.

Sasuke nodded, finally understanding what the other was after. He was willing to let them go if he was absolutely sure that Calixta could put an immediate stop to it if she suddenly changed her mind, regardless of the reason. "She's one of those really annoying people who just gets stronger the more desperate she gets and on top of that," he made eye contact with the other young man to better gauge his reaction to the words that would follow. "On top of that, she can channel Gaara's energy anytime she wants."

Shikamaru took a weary step back. "You're serious," he grumbled.

"You bet your ass I am," he asserted. "So, you gunna keep playing or are you gunna take off now?" When he saw just how pensive his comrade was, he added, "I managed to straighten her up, for the most part, so she shouldn't have to resort to that…unless she decides to take on all four of us at once. If she does that, then she'll need his help."

"What makes you think she won't do that just to stop you? She seemed pretty adamant about it before," he pointed out.

"She won't as long as she doesn't get freaked out and really, once she gets going, she sort of forgets everything else, so it's pretty easy to keep her mind off of that option. It also helps if you're willing to give into her a little bit. The more she knows how much you're enjoying yourself, the more she wants to do that instead of interfere with what we're doing."

"You've got this all planned out," Shikamaru grumbled.

"I'm just making it up as I go along. You'd be wise to remember that strategy. If you have a plan when you approach her, she'll know and she'll go out of her way to thwart it just about every time," he warned.

"Uh, okay. So…do you mind if I get dressed?" he suddenly asked.

Sasuke laughed. "Do what you want," he shrugged and once the other was mostly dressed, he asked, "So, you up for it?"

"For what, exactly? You've talked a lot but you've hardly said anything," he complained.

"Let's just say that I'd like to take things off easy-mode for a little while," he half-taunted.

Shikamaru frowned and the looked at Calixta again as though she might hold the answer he sought. "You want me to step up to hard-mode during my first play-through? That's a bit much to ask."

Sasuke gave a dismissive snicker. "I don't even like to play on hard-mode because that's when she channels Gaara to help her. I'd consider this more of an intermediate stage, somewhere between novice and expert," he offhandedly elaborated. "The trick at this stage would be keep her balanced enough. If she slips too far one way, she'll just shut down and that would be lame. If she gets pulled too far the other, then she'll make us play in hard-mode, where she channels Gaara and, I hate to admit, that even the four of us together might not be up for that. Keep that in mind and we can do whatever we want," he bragged.

* * *

As Calixta lit her cigarette, Naruto grabbed a wash cloth and got it wet. He even waited an extra few seconds for the water to warm up before trying to wipe her down.

"I still feel kinda dizzy," she admitted only moments before the cloth met her skin and she yelped, jerking away.

"What's the matter?" Naruto sighed.

"It's cold, sorry. It startled me. You can use it, just warn me next time," she dismissed.

"It's like you're on fire," Kiba awed, touching the back of his hand to her forehead.

She giggled. "That's sort of what it feels like. Raising my body temperature is an easy way to burn off some of that extra chakra I still have from you."

Kiba gasped and pulled his hand back but she caught it a few inches from her face. However, before either of them could say anything more, Naruto interrupted.

"Sit back so I can clean you up," he ordered when he returned with an even warmer washcloth.

Calixta gave a casual little chuckle and did as he asked.

"I wish I knew what they were whispering about," Kiba grumbled when he glanced over at the other pair standing a few meters away, almost around the corner.

Calixta quirked an odd little grin and closed her eyes. "Sasuke is convincing Shikamaru to keep playing," she informed restlessly.

"You think he will?" Kiba pressed.

Calixta gave a heated little gasp when the warm washcloth brushed against her slit. "Ah…it could go either way but if Sasuke can say the right thing, he'll get his way," she shrugged.

"And then what?" Kiba continued.

She gave a gentle smile at his impatience. "Then we will see what kind of move they decide to make. It will, no doubt, be in keeping with the theme of the evening," she mused.

"If that's the case…" Naruto looked at Kiba and then across at the other two young ninja, and then back to Calixta. "Then I'd say it's a four-player game now. Two teams of two," he asserted.

"What about her," Kiba incredulously dismissed.

"She is the game," Naruto elaborated.

Calixta felt her heart skip a beat. She was getting a similar impression and hearing it spoke aloud only served to confirm her suspicions.

"Are you okay with that?" Kiba suddenly turned to her.

Calixta smirked. "It certainly presents an interesting twist," she mused. "The question becomes what your goal will be."

Neither of them had thought of that and she couldn't help using her abilities to take advantage of their mutual moment of indecision. That feeling was what pulled Naruto from his thoughts.

"Wh-Why are you doing that?" the blonde suddenly questioned.

His voice caught Kiba's attention and he fixed his expectant gaze on her once again. He hadn't noticed that she was doing anything until the other said something but now there was no doubt in his mind.

"I need someone on my side," she shrugged. "If those two are going to work together then I'm going to need a bit of help keeping from completely making an ass of myself," she admitted.

Naruto sympathized with her worry about Sasuke embarrassing her. It was rare, especially anymore, that she became embarrassed but he knew that if anyone knew enough about Calixta to do it, it was Sasuke. She could feel his sympathy and tried to propagate it as best she could before they regrouped a few minutes later.

"So, what's it gunna be?" she asked haughtily as they returned. She had finished her smoke and put it out, tossing the butt in her case, before turning back to them.

She knew from the feelings she was getting from Sasuke that if things went his way, she wouldn't be inclined or much able to speak very well for very much longer. Even when he was using his chakra to help stabilize her, she could tell that he wanted to take charge of the encounter. It had sort of been the latest stage of their training together. First, they started mostly with her leading him as well as one other person but Sasuke's demeanor only allowed that to happen for so long before he decided that he wanted to take the lead. She gave him a look of resignation to affirm that as long as he didn't do anything too outrageous, she would work with him.

Sasuke knew her cooperation was largely for the sake of earning the good-will of the others, a concession designed to make them more sympathetic should she want them to back off for a moment. "How does this sound? I wanna see which one of us can make you cum the most," he proposed haughtily.

Kiba glared defensively at the young man standing before them because even though that would probably be fun for her, Sasuke had a distinct advantage over them because of his experiences with her.

Sasuke sensed the other young man's anxiety and added, "One at a time, count it up and see who got the most. Sound fair?"

Calixta just rolled her eyes and debated whether or not to call him a cheater again or to let that go for the time being.

"Uh, okay," Kiba agreed, after Naruto gave a nod of affirmation. Shikamaru nodded as well a second later.

"Good," Sasuke smirked. "Naruto," he motioned.

"What should we do?" Shikamaru asked as the blonde swallowed hard, only making an advance after a moment of reassuring eye contact with Calixta.

"Help hold'er down. She gets pretty wild sometimes," he snickered.

"But don't get in my way," Naruto haughtily interjected as he started to spread her knees.

They each took an arm while Sasuke remained standing to observe the others.

"Please, don't cheat," she barely said as Naruto ducked between her legs.

He chuckled and gave her a wink. "Only if I think I'm gunna lose," he agreed.

Calixta gave a whine of frustration and reached to lace her fingers in his hair.

"Don't let'er touch'im," Sasuke advised. "We don't want him getting any extra help, do we?"

The young men on either side of her held her wrists fast and that, more than anything, was what caused her instinctive struggle against them. That is, until she started to cum for the blonde eagerly licking her, then she fitfully thrashed every which way, only fighting them because they were set on restraining her.

Exactly three minutes later, Sasuke moved up behind Naruto, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him away. "Time's up," he informed.

Naruto snickered and licked his lips as he was pulled away, "Nineteen, not bad," he mused as he watched Calixta's body arch toward him, obviously disappointed by the sudden withdrawal.

Sasuke nodded in affirmation. "That's what I counted too. Nineteen in three minutes."

"Who's up next?" the blonde asked because he could almost feel a sadness coming from her at being so suddenly ignored.

"I'll go," Sasuke offered but only because he knew if he waited too much longer, it would be difficult to pleasure her and keep count of her orgasms at the same time. He snickered at the way she spread her knees for him as he approached, only pausing for a moment to toss Naruto his watch. "You're not going to beg me not to cheat? Or are you over that now?" he asked before kissing his way up her inner thigh.

Calixta was so reactive to them by that point that she couldn't help her momentary flash of anger that his taunt provoked in her. She gave a great growl of frustration and tried to jerk her hands away from the two still on either side of her. She had some success, but only because she caught them by surprise.

"She's just gunna slap me," he shrugged, pushing her legs as far apart as they would go as he worked toward her wetness.

Both Kiba and Shikamaru held on even tighter when they were informed of her aggressive tendency. That is, until Shikamaru realized how much she might enjoy striking the young man between her legs. So, he let go for a moment to see if she would really do it.

Without thinking, she reeled back with an open hand and started toward Sasuke but she caught herself about three centimeters from his cheek, stopping suddenly and revealing her anxiety through the way her fingers started to tremble as they carefully formed a defiant fist. For a moment, she remembered herself and laced her fingers in his hair, "You're wasting time," she chided, pulling his mouth closer to her heat.

Disappointed, Shikamaru unlaced her fingers from Sasuke's hair and once again secured her wrist. However, once she was denied that freedom, she raised her legs, hitching her heals behind his neck to guide him that way, if only so that he wouldn't continue to speak.

Her guidance didn't last long because as soon as Sasuke got serious, she was lost in the crashing waves of pleasure that his experienced tongue was providing her. When Naruto called, "Time," Calixta, much to even her own surprise, pulled up her heals and pushed Sasuke away by the shoulders with enough force to knock him back onto his butt. "Twenty-two."

Sasuke didn't falter, he simply nodded and fixed his gaze on one of the others, "Kiba," he motioned.

Naruto took up his partner's place of securing her arm while Kiba crawled around. It only slightly bothered him that he would, at least at first, be tasting almost as much of Sasuke as he would of Calixta. But, he didn't let it bother him because her scent was already filling his nostrils.

Unlike the two the came before him, Kiba wasn't afraid to use his teeth, not hesitating to suck and nibble on every part of her, now rather swollen, sex. The others watched as her toes curled and her legs collapsed around his head when he started to brush his teeth over the hood of her clitoris.

As Shikamaru held her arm, one hand on her wrist, the other on her elbow, he couldn't help noticing that while they approached her with the same kind of attention, her responses to each of them were different. While Naruto was tonguing her, she was rambunctious, planting her feet on the ground for what little leverage that would provide in order to push back against him, even strain awkwardly toward him. Then, on Sasuke's turn, she suddenly became defiant, even almost defensive. He almost couldn't believe the way she pushed him away from her or how it felt like, at least at first, she was trying not to cum for him. Once again, when she was with Kiba, she was the most vocal. Her cries ranged from barely audible gasps and sighs to outrageous squeals and howls. He also found her the most difficult to hold onto when Kiba was between her legs, which explained why the young man had chosen to pin her to the ground earlier.

She was holding Kiba so tightly between her thighs that he couldn't hear anything but her cries for more. So, when Sasuke said, "Time's up," he didn't hear him. Only the great squeal she gave when Sasuke and Naruto started to pry her knees apart did he realize how long he'd been working on her.

"H-How…How many?" he gasped as he slowly withdrew.

"Twenty six," Sasuke answered surely.

Kiba smirked and went for the washcloth to clean off his face. There was a moment when he almost when back to her because when he finally pulled away, she started begging for more of him. Because of her begging, Shikamaru didn't waste any time in taking his comrade's place. He was a little disappointed that he shouldn't use the technique she taught him with his fingers but she didn't seem to care. He didn't hesitate to spread her legs the rest of the way open and immediately shove his tongue inside as far as it would go. It didn't seem like very much to him but when she came a moment later, he reconsidered.

Shikamaru knew, as soon as he heard what Kiba had accomplished, that he had to make her cum at least twenty-four times in the three minutes allotted to him. That meant eight orgasms per minute, one about ever seven to eight seconds, and he was off to a good start considering it took less than five to reach her first peak for him.

With her one arm now free, Calixta braced herself against the floor, an action that did very little other than make her feel a little more stable. "Ah, damn it!" she hissed. "You fat head, quit crunching numbers!" she demanded of the one between her legs.

Shikamaru just smirked. His figuring was done but he knew she liked his calculating nature and continued to analyze her every response, looking for the things that would cause the most intense reactions. Then, when his time was up, he withdrew willingly, albeit with marked effort.

"No, please, don't stop! More, please!" Calixta kicked and grabbed at those within her reach.

"Settle down," Sasuke authoritatively ordered evenly, pushing her back to the ground with a single, decisive motion.

"Don't tell me what to do!" she pushed him away and then scooted back a little from the four young men now gawking at her for a different reason. She hadn't exactly looked sane while they were pleasuring her but she certainly looked a lot less anxious.

Sasuke scoffed and tossed her another cigarette from her purse. To their surprise, she actually caught it without breaking it. "That was twenty-five for you, Shikamaru."

"That means we win," his teammate affirmed.

"Only by two," Kiba grumbled.

"Hardly a victory," Calixta scoffed quietly as she puffed on her cigarette.

"Still a victory," Shikamaru insisted.

"It's too close," she dismissed, rolling her eyes.

Sasuke genuinely frowned. "She's right," he grumbled.

The other three young ninja give him varying looks of incredulity.

"You just wanna tease her some more," Naruto accused.

"She wants more," Sasuke shrugged and then turned to her, "Don't you?"

Calixta sneered at Sasuke, blowing great tuffs of smoke out her nose, but otherwise didn't respond, figuring that her begging for more moments before more than answered that question.

"One more round," he insisted. "We'll go first," he offered, tossing his watch back to Naruto and motioning to Shikamaru. "Give us ten minutes."

The taller teen faltered at being put on the spot. He had gotten the impression that they weren't finished but he wasn't expecting to have to act again so soon.

Once Shikamaru was within arm's reach of Sasuke, he tore his towel away. Then, as he tried to recover from the shock, Sasuke shoved him toward Calixta. He followed, snatching away the remainder of Calixta's cigarette and tossing it over his shoulder.

Seeing that his partner was still hesitant, Sasuke gave him a reassuring look, "You screw her and I'll take care of the rest."

Shikamaru nodded and moved between her legs. Just as he was about to penetrate her, Sasuke moved in closer to her and started to weave a sign.

"Cheater!" she yelled but it was already too late. He was already reappearing as a naked female. Her reaction was especially visceral and he reached for one of the discarded towels to clean up the blood on her face as he moved to straddle her waist.

Once her face was clean, Sasuke took her hands in his and raised his hips, sticking his butt in Shikamaru's face. "Lick me," he suggested evenly.

"Sasu-" Shikamaru stuttered. "But I'm-"

"It doesn't have to be very good, just do it," he insisted and then gasped when he felt his comrade's tongue on his heat.

As Naruto and Kiba watched the bizarre spectacle, they saw that when Calixta's eyes would roll back, her grip on Sasuke's hands increased. Before long, she was digging her fingernails into the backs of his hands so hard that he was starting to bleed, not that he seemed to care.

The only reason Calixta was as compliant to Sasuke, with as demanding as he was being, was because once he was in female form, he was actually revealing quite a bit of himself in the process. He revealed how sensitive he was to oral stimulation in his temporary form and as they continued, he allowed himself to let go of more and more of his inhibitions because he knew that would be one of the only ways his pleasure would be able to influence her to its fullest.

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was doing and realized that much of the reason he was so agreeable to Sasuke's leadership was because he had changed genders, not that it mattered much now. He gave an honest effort to keep track of her climaxes but by the time Naruto called, "Time," he had lost track and was mildly disappointed that he hadn't cum because he had so thoroughly distracted himself.

"How many was that?" Kiba asked anxiously as the other pair dismounted, leaving Calixta lying prone on the floor.

"I lost track," Shikamaru admitted and looked to Sasuke, who turned to look at Naruto.

"I couldn't count either," the blonde admitted.

"Neither could I," Sasuke confessed.

Calixta just laughed at them. "What good's the game when you can't even keep score?"

"Okay…" Sasuke eyed her carefully before changing back into his normal body. "After they're finished, you tell us who was better," he ordered.

She gave an agreeable shrug. "Sounds fair to me."

"Good," Sasuke nodded.

Calixta snickered and then crawled over to Naruto. She snatched the watch out of his hand and threw it at Sasuke. Then, she pinned the blonde to the ground. "Sexy-jutu, now!" she ordered forcefully.

Naruto faltered until she brought his hands together to encourage him. Once he started the transformation process, she looked back over her shoulder at Kiba.

"Fuck me again, please," she pleaded in a raspy voice. Moments later, Kiba was on top of her. By the time she turned back to Naurto, he was female. She didn't hesitate to kiss him, her hands wandering all over his body as the young man behind her entered her.

There was so much emotion behind the kiss he received that Naruto felt the beginnings of tears starting to well up in his eyes. Luckily, they were quickly blinked away when she started groping between his legs. Both Sasuke and Shikamaru blushed deeply when it was Naruto who broke their kiss with a heated gasp, his soft voice hitching as she fingered him in time with the thrusts from the young man behind her.

Because she knew that the end was near, Calixta was able to use up the last of her energy without worry and it gave her a certain clarity that she had lacked through much of their encounter. Because of this, she was able to accurately measure their time and get Kiba to cum inside her about thirty seconds before their time was up. They collapsed in a panting pile and didn't hear the mutual grumble from the pair of observers.

When they started to regain their breath and sense, Sasuke spoke. "So? Who gave you the most pleasure?"

Calixta gave a silly little smile. "Well…I dunno…You all did so very well…I hate to chose," she giggled as Kiba climbed off of her.

"After all that, you have to chose," Shikamaru insisted.

She quirked an odd look, "What were you playing for anyway?" she suddenly asked, then diverted her attention, as well as theirs, with the fact that her hands still hadn't stopped molesting the blonde beneath her.

"We didn't say," Sasuke dismissed, obviously annoyed that Naruto hadn't changed back yet.

"Isn't it enough to win?" Shikamaru proposed. "Sometimes, victory is its own reward."

"Pft," she scoffed as she slid down the blonde's body until her face with even with their comrade's perky breasts.

As Sasuke watched her, he began to wonder if they hadn't done more harm than good. There almost seemed to be a disconnect within her. On the one hand she was speaking and thinking very clearly and even rationally. On the other, she kept molesting his teammate who seemed helpless to stop her. It was like her mind and her body were acting separately.

"I think the winners should get something for their trouble…" she pouted. "Or, if it suits you better, the losers could be dealt a punishment for failure." Then, before anyone could respond, she started squeezing Naruto's breasts, a greedy grin on her face, "Doesn't he have just the cutest titties?" she giggled, "And the most tempting little nipples?"

Sasuke looked for a moment at Kiba and Shikamaru, who, he quickly learned, were almost completely absorbed by the spectacle before them. Though, Kiba seemed more content to simply sit back and observe than Shikamaru, who had not cum a second time and was still almost painfully hard.

He rolled his eyes in disgust, "Naruto, change back!" he ordered and watched as Calixta smirking lips started to tease the blonde's pert little nipple.

"Huh?" Naruto started at the sound of his own name spoken so harshly. "What?" he blinked with surprise and looked around to see the different looks they were receiving. Kiba appeared amused and pleased, Shikamaru was obviously chomping at the bit to finish what he started, and Sasuke was incredibly impatient.

"You know that form makes her kinda brain dead. Change back so we can settle this," Sasuke snapped.

"Oh…okay…" he agreed quietly and found that it actually took a few extra moments of concentration to change back to his normal body, no doubt because of Calixta's desire for him to stay as he was. He felt his heart sink a little at the small whine of disappointment she gave when he changed beneath her.

Calixta shot a careful but still almost dangerous look at Sasuke. "Decide what you're playing for and I'll tell you who won," she bargained as she slid off Naruto's body.

Neither Kiba nor Shikamaru quite understood what Calixta meant when she insisted that using the sexy-no-jutsu was cheating. At first, they thought it simply embarrassed her to have one of her major turn-ons so completely and suddenly exposed but as they continued, it quickly became apparent that she wasn't always exactly self-conscious about what gave her pleasure. It was only after watching her fondle and then abandon Naruto that they realized that that particular way of weaving chakra was something she had a significant weakness against.

"How 'bout this?" Kiba suddenly interjected, as he was the least aggravated out of the four young men. "Winners walk you home, losers clean up here."

"Fine," Sasuke curtly agreed and the other two nodded after that.

"Well, I hope you don't find that we made too much of a mess here this evening," she chided, keeping her gaze fixed on the dark-haired teen that insisted on provoking her until another thought occurred to her. Then, she turned her gaze to Shikamaru. "I would also appreciate it if you'd clean up that Go set we left in the game room. It would be rude to just let it sit out like that all night."

"Does that mean we won?" Kiba quietly asked Naruto.

The blonde smiled widely. "I think it does."

Sasuke wasn't the least bit surprised but Shikamaru was obviously irritated by her decision.

Without another word, Calixta got a towel, finished cleaning up and got dressed. Once she was ready, she motioned to Kiba and Naruto to follow but before she actually left, she went up to Sasuke and gave him a gentle little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear so quietly that he barely heard her. Then she went over to Shikamaru. "Perhaps you'll have to schedule a rematch if you're that disappointed," she playfully suggested.

The strategic young man just shook his head in exasperation. "Good night," he said, turning away from her to pick up the few things left in the shower.

Sasuke watched them leave, mostly to get a last feeling for how Calixta was doing. She was pleased, if possibly a little overloaded.

"We shouldn't have let her pick," Shikamaru griped, finally redressing himself.

"We really had no other way to decide," Sasuke dismissed.

"We could've come up with something better than that," he grumbled. "She didn't want us to win so it really wasn't worth the effort. I knew we should've just quit while we were ahead."

Sasuke laughed a little.

"I don't see what's so funny," Shikamaru threw the dirty towels down the laundry shoot.

"Of course she picked them. She was getting back at me for barging in on you and I think she was still a little peeved that you won't give her your full attention for even a moment," Sasuke reasoned. "Oh, and Naruto's sexy-no-jutsu tends to make her a little more retarded than mine for some reason."

Shikamaru found himself shaking his head in exasperation again. "Then why even play if you knew we were gunna lose?"

Sasuke smirked and took in his comrade's expression for a moment before answering. "Do you _really_ feel like you lost?"

He was speechless for a long moment after that so Sasuke continued.

"Or are you really so competitive that you let something dumb like winning get in the way of a really good match?"

"Fine…" Shikamaru finally agreed, realizing that at least as far as Calixta was concerned, it was probably enough that the game was good one and that winning might be more of a matter of luck than anything else. "Was she serious when she proposed a rematch?" he suddenly asked.

Sasuke smirked knowingly. "If you want her to be a cock tease, that's exactly what she'll do but she was serious…well, as serious as she ever is about anything."

That soothed the young ninja's ego and they finished cleaning things up in comfortable silence before parting ways for the evening.

* * *

As soon as Calixta exited the front door of the game center, she breathed a deep sigh of relief, relishing the feeling of the cool, crisp night air on her overheated skin. "Aaaah," she sighed and then stumbled a bit.

"Whoah, hey!" Naruto barely caught her before she fell down the steps. "You okay?"

She giggled a little. "Oh, yes, just a bit lightheaded. That's all. I'm sure you realize that I got much more than I bargained for tonight. That hasn't happened in a while," she mused. "Just lemme sit a minute and I should be fine." Then, she started to call for Satu, who came scampering around the corner with Akamaru in tow.

"I-I hope we didn't-," Kiba tried but she cut him off.

"Please, don't try to apologize or anything silly like that. You know I'm perfectly fine with what just happened," she dismissed.

A minute later, she stood and they led her home. Just in case, Naruto took her arm and let her lean on him because she was exhibiting signs of intoxication. When they reached her door and she opened it, she turned around just before walking inside.

"Ah, thank you both, very much for making such a memorable evening for me," she told them with a blushing bow. Then, she gave each of them a passionate enough kiss to give them a blush to match her own. "Good night."

They replied in kind and turned to leave but she stopped them on the bottom step.

"Oh, uh…you might want to keep on your toes," she mused.

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked, looking up at the night sky.

"Just that I think Shikamaru might be inclined to arrange a rematch," she informed before disappearing inside.

When they heard the click of her double lock, they knew they were safe to speak their minds.

"I didn't know you and Calixta were…" Kiba began but trailed off with a vague hand motion.

"Having sex," he stated even more surely than he expected due to his regular talks with Calixta. "Yeah, sometimes. We spend a lot of time together but we don't _usually_ do stuff like that. I heard that you kinda gave up on her after she and Gaara decided they were official," Naruto pried since he was given the opening.

"Uh…I just thought it would be best to cool it, that's all," he shrugged. This had actually been one of the first time's he'd approached her in quite some time but she seemed willing to give him his space and didn't say anything about it. "Sasuke seemed pretty comfortable taking charge there," he mused.

"Yeah…but that's just 'cause it makes him really uncomfortable to let someone else take the lead," Naruto reasoned. "It's usually easier just to let'im do what he wants…for the most part. But it doesn't hurt to keep'im on his toes," he giggled.

Kiba was surprised to find himself still laughing with his friend when they parted ways a few minutes later.


	30. Epil 2, Vices and Devices

the second in the series of epilogue chapters i have to post. This one is just a touch darker than the usual themes in the story and this encounter didn't really further the plot, even if it was fun to write, so it wasn't included in the original set of chapters.

* * *

Neji was out one evening, walking around the Village, out of boredom. It was a hot summer night and most of the people who were still out and about had taken shelter inside the various establishments, in hopes of taking advantage of their air conditioning. As he walked through the restaurant district, he noticed that most of the people there had also gone inside. However, that didn't mean everyone. He saw Sasuke and Calixta just sitting down at one of the street-side tables outside what he had heard was her favorite restaurant.

He couldn't help watching them, as he could discretely do from a distance without the worry that someone might catch him. Sasuke's relationship with Calixta confused Neji as much as it irked him. He knew for a fact that the two of them genuinely disagreed on just about everything but there still seemed to be a fair amount of attraction between them. At first, he thought it was purely physical but over time, and as he watched them now, he realized that there was more to it than just that.

The reason he could tell their relationship went beyond the physical, other than the fact that they seemed to be on a dinner date together, was that they hardly touched one another. Occasionally, her hand would brush across his but that was it. Of course, he knew that physical contact wasn't necessary for Calixta's abilities but he had also learned, from listening to others, that it did heighten the experience.

Because it was so hot, he didn't notice the flush that Calixta wore over her entire body until after the sun went down. When he realized that, he also noticed that seemed a little flustered, a little less graceful than usual and that it wasn't just an act of flirtation. When the streetlamps came up, he also noticed that Sasuke kept reaching into his pocket. At first, he dismissed it as a nervous tick. Then, he thought the other young man might be adjusting himself under the table but before long, he was starting to think that he was actually toying with something in his pocket.

Had Calixta been in a better mind for it, she might have noticed that they had attracted Neji's attention. As it was, Sasuke had managed to absorb most her attention, leaving little for anyone else. When she excused herself to go to the restroom just after ordering dessert, Sasuke gave her a hard time about it but let her go. That's when Neji decided to go harass Sasuke.

"Having fun?" he scoffed as he approached.

"Neji?" Sasuke turned in surprise.

"I dunno how you can stand her, honestly," the long-haired teen continued.

"She has her moments. I'm taking her out tonight because it is her birthday," Sasuke lied.

"That's very sweet of you," Neji taunted.

"It's not like that and you know it," Sasuke dismissed.

"That's what it looks like," he laughed. "Maybe she's just letting you think that you're not in charge here? She's probably just leading you on."

That made Sasuke laugh. "Not tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke hesitated for a moment and then looked around to see if Calixta was returning. Finding that she was still out of sight, he motioned for the other to come closer. "I'm not just taking her out to eat," he mischievously informed, pulling a little remote control from his pocket. "I got her a little present before hand."

"What's this?" Neji snatched up the device. He knew better than to give into the urge to simply start pushing buttons right away.

"It's the control for the vibrator I slipped inside her before taking her out," Sasuke casually replied in a hushed voice.

Neji nearly dropped the device. "What?" he scoffed.

Sasuke snickered. "You heard me. Go 'head, play with the settings a bit. I'm sure she won't mind."

Neji hesitated but complied. He wasn't quite sure what to expect but he was disappointed, mostly because Calixta wasn't right there so he could see her reactions and he wasn't about to use his unusual sight to peer into the women's bathroom. "Freak," he scoffed and tried to hand it back.

"She's on her way back. Why don't you have a seat and hold onto that for a bit. If you've got a good enough poker face, she won't know it's you controlling it," Sasuke suggested.

Neji hesitated but once she came into view, obviously drunk on wine, he slipped the thin controller into his pocket and took a seat.

When she saw Neji, Calixta frowned but decided not to be deterred. "Ah, Neji-san. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company tonight?" she brazenly greeted.

Her tone almost made him turn the device inside her up dramatically but he decided against it, leaving it at a steady lower setting. "I wanted to see how Sasuke could stand to be seen with you like this," he taunted.

She blushed a little. "You mean in public?" she countered.

"Something like that," he laughed.

"Well, you sat down with us so I can't be that bad," she giggled.

"Perhaps I'm just trying to save Sasuke from embarrassing himself by being seen with the likes of you," he countered. Since he had managed to keep his hands in his lap, under the table, as they spoke, he decided to turn the remote up a few notches to see how she would react. To his delight, she shot Sasuke a playfully accusing look.

Calixta gave the slightest of gasps. "How kind," she nearly purred. It was clear to her that whatever Neji was up to, he was apparently enjoying himself and even though he seemed intent on dampening their merriment, that wasn't affecting her, allowing her to feed off his enjoyment, taking little else with it. This was, of course, also largely thanks to Sasuke, who was helping her maintain her focus on him.

A moment later, she felt it turn up again and this time the setting was changed to a rhythmic pattern rather than the steady vibration. She couldn't help biting her bottom lip a little as she gazed across the table at the intrusive young man. When their desserts arrived, she offered to buy something for Neji, since he apparently wasn't going to leave. He opted instead for a glass of water.

"I'm glad you're willing to at least wait until we are finished with our meal before you drag my victim from me," she smirked a little before taking a little bite of custard.

Neji wanted to smirk but decided instead to increase the intensity of the device inside her again. Sasuke simply glared at her but he knew that she was being sarcastic so he let it go. They both nearly choked when she let slip a little moan, barely covering it up as an expression of how delicious she found her dessert.

So that he wouldn't completely give himself away, Neji averted his eyes, first to the few passersby and then into the bustling restaurant, but he couldn't keep his eyes off her for very long. He also couldn't help noticing how her nipples eagerly poked out through her blouse, a further outward indication of her arousal.

Once she was finished eating, she sat back in her chair and sipped on the remaineder of her glass of wine. It didn't take long before she stopped trying to hide how she was feeling. The heat of the summer night was one thing but that on top of her inner heat, was making her start to sweat. She dabbed her brow with her napkin and shifted her weight, crossing her legs.

"So, Sasuke…" she began lazily.

"Hm?" he distractedly replied, obviously amused by the recent turn of events.

"Which one of us are you going to leave here with?" she proposed haughtily.

Sasuke smirked. "Which one of us would you prefer?" he countered.

Calixta gave him a critical look. "I always leave with the person I came with, unless they leave me," she answered seriously.

"Perhaps then, you wouldn't mind if Neji continues to join us," he proposed.

Calixta shot her date an incredulous look and sat forward. Then, she realized he was messing with her so she tried to laugh it off. "He may have decided to sit with us but he's hardly joined us."

Sasuke smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't say that…" he crooned.

Then, before she could think, Neji turned the device up as high as it would go. This time, he couldn't help snickering as she gasped and had to grab the edge of the table to steady herself. She watched as they reveled in her look of absolute horror.

Sensing that she was about to bolt, because the signal for the remote control could only reach so far, Sasuke placed a disarmingly gentle hand on hers. "Come on," he stood, giving Neji a little nod and joined him in standing.

She eyed both of them carefully. "Turn it off," she ordered of Neji.

The young man with long hair smirked and then looked at Sasuke.

"Don't look at him. Just turn the damn thing off," she repeated in a low, dark voice. "Or I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine." Neji reached in his pocket and it the power button, watching regretfully as her features eased.

"Can we go now?" Sasuke impatiently prompted.

Calixta hesitated but she could feel Sasuke's chakra urging her and she complied without further protest. "I can't believe you," she grumbled when she had to take his arm due to her drunken stumbling.

"But you can believe him?" Sasuke motioned to Neji.

She glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "He likes to see me in a weakened state," she bitterly answered.

"He would be foolish to think you were weak right now. Drunken and obvious, of course, but not weak," Sasuke pointed out. "Besides, you always do better when you're not trying to hide how good you're feeling."

She quickly turned her glare to him and pushed him away. "Being demeaned doesn't feel good," she harshly retorted and then stormed away.

Sasuke didn't bother to follow her right way. Instead, he gave Neji and expecting look. The other teen quickly picked up on the look and hit the power button again. Calixta stumbled and then they went after her. In a flash, she was being dragged into a nearby park. She kicked and tried to fight them but due to the way they were holding her, the way Sasuke kept groping her in all the right places, her rebellion was quelled .

They threw her down on the grass and before she could say anything, Sasuke was kissing her. It took a moment, but she managed enough conviction to push him away. "You bastard!" she shrieked and tried to scramble away. They quickly caught her and pinned her to the ground.

"She's already soaked through her top," Neji snickered, even venturing to poke at one of her erect nipples, eliciting a heated gasp in the process.

As Calixta's irritation grew, Sasuke knew he had to do something. "Turn it down a bit," he ordered and Neji complied. Then, he pulled Calixta's top down off her shoulders and started massaging her breasts.

Calixta couldn't help leaning forward into the attention. "That's right, at least make yourself useful if you're going to be a jerk," she tried to snap but it lacked much conviction.

Sasuke smirked and motioned for Neji to come over. The young man holding the remote control complied but made sure her hands wouldn't get anywhere near the device. However, when Sasuke leaded down, mouth open, to start nursing from her, Neji hesitated.

"I can't believe you can do that," he grumbled, obviously disgusted.

"Then don't bother," Calixta snapped.

"Don't be like that," Sasuke scolded before turning to his comrade. "It's actually quite sweet," he commented off handedly and then gave her a little squeeze. It didn't take much pressure for him to produce a fair squirt of milk from her. "But you don't have to drink it. It's just less messy that way." He turned back, once again with his mouth open, but this time he didn't intend to make contact. Instead, he squirted some of her milk into his mouth.

"You're like a fuckin' cow," Neji scoffed even though he was unable to keep at least one of his hands from groping her other breast.

Calixta rolled her eyes. "Moo," he sarcastically replied.

Her response made Sasuke snicker.

"If you are so displeased with this arrangement, why don't you put up more of a fight?" Neji proposed.

Again Sasuke took the floor before she could speak. To keep her placated, he toyed with her wet nipple in the meantime. "She's not displeased. She's annoyed," he quickly corrected.

Neji shot his comrade an odd look but didn't say anything more about that. He knew that, for whatever reason, Sasuke and Calixta had grown emotionally close and that the young loner was quite adept at accurately reading her emotions more often than not.

"If you were going to choose someone else, why didn't you pick someone less…prudish?" Calixta eventually interjected.

"Compared to you, everyone is a prude," Neji scoffed.

"I hadn't intended to. He just made himself available, that's all," Sasuke corrected and then once again briefly turned to Neji. "And we can both tell you wanna at least try it so quit screwing around."

Neji frowned but knew his options at this point were either comply or leave. He wasn't quite ready to leave so he leaned down and gave her breast, which was already dripping, a slight squeeze. Only a few drops made it to his lips but he eagerly licked them off. Pleased at the very slight sweetness he tasted, but disappointed that he got so little, he closed the distance almost completely and gave it another try, this time with more success.

He was very pleased with the results as well. He was rewarded not only by the sweet taste of her healing milk but also with a heated little whine from her as she continued to arch her back toward them.

For a long time after that, none of them spoke, they sat in near silence, save the sounds of the two young men's smacking lips and the young woman's little sounds of pleasure.

When squeezing her breast no longer produced a small flood of milk, Neji felt inclined to stop. Something about actually putting his lips to her body bothered him. Without thinking, Calixta sensed his discomfort and acted upon it. However, if she was going to take action, he certainly hadn't been expecting her to be helpful or encouraging to him. Because of this, he was greatly surprised when her hand came up to guide his.

"Like this," she started him around the base of her breast and slowly squeezed toward her nipple, forcing more of the liquid from her body.

Neji blinked upward at her almost stupidly.

"You've never actually milked a cow before, have you?" she teased with a little giggle.

For a moment, he couldn't help continuing to stare up at her in astonishment. To hear her so readily turn his deprecating language around on him like that left him almost speechless.

Calixta smiled gently downward, knowing that sort of affectionate look would snap him out of his stupor the quickest. "If you don't do something, Sasuke's going to be finished before you're even halfway done," she teased, once again guiding his hand.

That was all it took. Neji continued the motions by himself but to his surprise, Sasuke withdrew a moment later.

"Don't bother finishing if you don't want to," the short-haired teen casually suggested. "There are other things we can do."

Calixta shot him a careful look but again, before she could speak, he took action. This time, he reached up her skirt.

"You're here on a special occasion," Sasuke told his comrade in a haughty tone.

"I hardly consider her birthday a special occasion," Neji spat.

"I wasn't referring to that. Today is special because Calixta's actually wearing underwear. It's an unusual occurrence these days," he teased. "Not that it matters, she's practically dripping already."

That obviously intrigued Neji but he was hesitant to act on it. However, when Sasuke lifted her skirt to show him, he couldn't help reaching out to her to find that she was sticky even through her panties. As he touched her, he could feel the slight vibrations within her body and decided to change the setting to a steadier rhythm so that he might be able to feel out exactly where it was placed. As he searched, he was surprised by what he found.

He had expected to have to reach further up her body to find what he was looking for but in actuality, he had to reach lower. He didn't even notice the way she instinctively spread her legs as he reached down, fingertips barely brushing the pucker of her asshole through her underwear. At that realization, he shot Sasuke a suspicious look.

However, the look went unnoticed because Sasuke was too busy tapping her clitoris and watching her facial expressions change as they touched her.

"So…is this the kind of thing you usually do?" Neji asked of his comrade after another moment of near silence.

Sasuke chuckled. "Not exactly. She doesn't generally like…devices," he motioned to the remote.

"She doesn't seem to mind this one," he played with some of the settings again.

"You probably wouldn't believe that it took some convincing," Sasuke dryly commented. That was all he was going to say about how he had manipulated the young woman under their hands before taking her out. "You wanna make her cum first?" he proposed.

"Wha-?" Neji questioned incredulously.

Calixta sneered at him.

"I could show you how, if you don't know what to do," he offered.

"No!" Calixta suddenly protested.

"What's your problem now?" Sasuke snapped.

"I won't give him the satisfaction," she seethed.

"I'll take that bet," Sasuke presumed.

"What?" She nearly yelled.

"And I'll raise you. You will beg to cum for Neji," he boasted.

"Sasuke?" Neji gasped.

"That is, if you want to," he offered the other young man a way out. "I know you don't really like her but she can still be fun." He flicked her clitoris again and she jerked almost violently in response.

"Sasuke!" Calixta started to put of a fight again because of the way he was speaking about her.

The retraction made Neji second-guess his hesitation because he wasn't sure he'd get an opportunity like this again in the future. He took a moment to really look at the young woman sitting on the grassy forest floor next to him. Her sundress was now bunched up around her waist and her panties were so wet that he thought he was starting to be able to see through them.

Then he noticed the flush that covered her entire body and the way her breaths were coming in short pants as she blinked at them through the darkness. He quickly realized that if she was going to get away from them, now would be a good time but she seemed to be waiting for one or both of them to act first.

"It looks like she wants me to," he commented after a moment.

"I only want lovers who want to be with me," she corrected haughtily.

Neji snickered and knew that anything he said or did after that would be very revealing. However, he wasn't ready to abandon this endeavor just yet so, he knocked her back to the ground and pulled off her panties. She squealed and fitfully kicked at his sudden forward advance.

"Ah, I knew you wanted me," she nearly bragged but her voice was so husky that it didn't sound as taunting as she had hoped.

Neji only hesitated for a moment when the head of his cock first started to press against her wet heat.

"Just go for it," Sasuke encouraged. "She's already all wet for you and you wouldn't think with as busy as she is that she'd be very tight but I think she'll surprise you.

Then, before she could form another taunt, he was starting to slide inside her and she was instinctively clinging to him. Once he was completely inside her, he was ready to keep going but Sasuke interrupted him.

"Neji, stop!" he suddenly ordered and when he saw the annoyed look on his comrade's face, he added, "Just for a few seconds," as he moved around to see her face, taught with a mix of pleasure and denial. Sasuke snickered, "You almost came just from that," he taunted, snatching the remote control from Neji before pinning her shoulders to the ground.

Calixta gave a sound of incredible frustration and released her hold on Neji to try to push him off of her. The young man inside her, however, was watching their exchange very carefully and reacted quickly, attempting to grab her hands before they reached his comrade. He didn't exactly like Sasuke's sudden intrusion but he liked her defiance even less. However, Sasuke reacted even more quickly, because he was ready for her actions, and grabbed her by the wrists.

"Don't hold her hands," Sasuke advised darkly.

Calixta's rage flared and she genuinely tried to fight them again.

When she had defied them before, Neji could sense that there was a certain element of antagonistic playfulness in it. Now, it was different. She was putting forth an honest effort to get away from them.

"Wh-Why not?" Neji questioned, moving his hands down to her hips to keep her in place.

Sasuke smirked. "If you hold hands with her, you will lose control of her completely. It's one of her tricks," he advised.

Neji gave a thoughtful frown. If Sasuke was right, he nearly gave himself over to her without realizing it. "Can I go again?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh, yeah, go for it," Sasuke almost laughed.

Any protests Calixta had were quickly quelled when Neji started to withdraw only to slowly side back into her again. He hadn't intended to move so slowly at first but every moment he made seemed to provoke a reaction in her that he could feel, either through the way her chakra reacted to his or through the feeling of her twitching erratically around his cock.

Neji watched with delight as her hands fitfully clench and unclench as they searched in vain for something to hold onto. However, her fight had ceased and now he was holding onto her because he was worried that she would buck too hard and throw off his rhythm.

"I'm surprised you gave up as easily as you did," Neji taunted to help keep his pace slow.

"You're too used to fighting Lee-san," she retorted.

Neji snickered until the notion of what it would take to get Lee in to such a submissive position crossed his mind, then he was annoyed and stopped talking to her. However, it wasn't long after that Sasuke interrupted again.

"Turn'er over," he suggested, adjusting his pants.

Neji made a sound of frustration. "Ugh, what for?"

"'Cause I don't like to watch and I don't think you want my ass in your face while I fuck her mouth," he crudely replied.

The long-haired teen gave a look of disgust as he complied. He expected Sasuke to immediately open her mouth and force himself inside but that was not the case. Instead, he received another order.

"Do it harder," Sasuke suggested and when he realized that he was once again going to be questioned, he added, "She's not making the right sounds yet."

Neji was just happy at that point to get any explanation and cared little that it didn't seem to make any sense. Though, he did notice that when he increased the power of his thrusts, the sounds she was making shifted from strained little groans and squeals to deep, throaty moans.

"There we go," Sasuke grinned and by that point he had pulled his erection from his pants so he slid himself inside. The look of incredulity that he received almost made him laugh, "When she's all tense like that, ya never know what she's gunna do. I didn't want'er to bite me," he explained.

The young man behind Calixta frowned a little, "Bite you?" he repeated grimly.

Sasuke couldn't hold back his laughter this time. "Oh yeah, if you think she's given up, you better forget it. She just said that so you'd let your guard down."

If Calixta could hear what they were saying over her own muffled sounds of pleasure, she might very well have bitten Sasuke for that last remark. He was fortunate that she was sufficiently distracted.

Neji couldn't help awing at how well his comrade could read the young woman on her hands and knees between them. As the sounds she made changed and their attentions toward her grew, he could feel her body starting to relax a bit. At first, it was like every muscle in her body was tensed. Now, her muscles were tensing in time with the erratic rhythm of her chakra. However erratic, it also seemed to punctuate the rhythm they set for her.

On top of that, now that she was more relaxed, he could more readily feel the small, remote-controlled object vibrating inside her. Then, once Sasuke was comfortable enough to start playing with the remote itself, he could feel her subtle responses as he randomly changed the settings.

Sasuke came a few short minutes later. It wasn't that he didn't want to prolong his own personal pleasure but that wasn't his primary purpose this time. He satisfied himself quickly so he could focus more readily on other things, like keeping Calixta's impending orgasm contained, which was a feat in itself.

"Done already?" Neji taunted when Sasuke's limp member slipped from Calixta's lips, leaving them connected by a thin string of cum until that too broke under the force of her panting for breath.

"Take your time," Sasuke made a welcoming motion. "After all, you do want her to beg for it, don't you?"

The very idea that she might beg him for her pleasure resparked Neji's determination and he started thrusting even harder, noticing that then the timber of her cries changed yet again. This time she sounded almost desperate as she pushed against him with what little leverage she had.

"You really think she will?" he mused between gasps for air.

By this point, the only thing keeping Calixta's head up was Sasuke's hand on her chin, forcing her gaze up toward him. "I know she will," he confidently replied, earning another heated whine of denial from the young woman.

It wasn't long after that she started to really sound desperate, pushing back against Neji as hard as she could. "Nnngh, Sasuke," she whined.

That made Neji's grip strengthen in an outward sign of his displeasure with her vocal outburst. "He's not the one fucking you!" he growled and then added, "Bitch," under his breath.

"But he's the one…holding me back…" she complained.

"What?" Neji scoffed.

Sasuke broke eye contact with Calixta for a moment to look at his comrade. "I'm just making an honest woman out of her. She didn't want to give you the satisfaction of making her cum and you didn't want her to cum until she begged for it," he offhandedly explained.

Calixta gave a groan of frustration and pounded her fists on the ground.

"How could you possibly-?" Neji barely managed to question. Her increased emotional intensity was making it hard to form a complete thought.

"It's complicated. Just take my word for it," he assured. "Regardless, you should thank me for it," he bragged.

"Why's that?" Neji hissed angrily.

"Because if she were allowed to control her own pleasure, then you would be in a very different position right now," he dangerously replied.

The long-haired teen gave an incredulous scoff.

"I know you keep your distance from her because you think that as soon as you let your guard down, she'll pull a fast one on ya. Well, you're right," Sasuke began.

Calixta screamed in frustration but neither of them paid much attention so she tried something else. "N-Ne…ji…" she barely said between gasps.

"Now, yer gettin' it," Sasuke coaxed.

"Nnngh," she squealed, "Neji, please," she finally pleaded.

Neji forced a chuckle. He was very close to orgasm himself and only their bizarre conversation was holding him back. "That didn't take very long at all."

"Well, she has been on the verge of orgasm for…" he trailed off to think for a second, giving Calixta an opportunity to interject, though it was only a single word.

"Days…" she exaggerated.

"About ten minutes now," Sasuke continued with only a slight chuckle. "I doubt very many people could last that long."

Neji scoffed. "It's not that hard."

"Neji, please," Calixta desperately interjected, hoping to stave off their intentionally offensive conversation.

Sasuke just scoffed back at Neji and then shook his head in exasperation. He wanted to explain but at the same time, he could tell Calixta was starting to actually grow angry with them, rather that just frustrated, which didn't give him much time to explain. "So, you want her to cum for you or what?"

"I wanna hear her say please a couple more times," Neji cruelly replied.

Sasuke expected Calixta to protest that. They had come a long way from their original plans that evening and he wasn't sure just how far over the line they were going to go this time.

"Yes, please, Neji," Calixta gasped. "I want your pleasure, please give it to me," she desperately cried, her voice now growing hoarse. "Take me with you when you cum."

Her last words especially caught Neji's attention, for some reason, and they made his fingers twitch with delight. "Let'er go," he ordered.

"You sure? I'm sure she's still got some good groveling left in'er," he suggested haughtily.

"Now," Neji affirmed, because he was too hot to hold out any longer.

Sasuke nodded and severed the link between himself and Calixta. It was a very harsh disconnect for her, and he knew that, but he also knew that her first instinct would be to shift her entire focus onto Neji as they came together, something that they would both greatly appreciate.

Breaking his connection with Calixta also allowed Sasuke to sit back with bemused detachment as the pair moaned loudly and writhed together on the grassy ground. The spectacle lasted longer than he expected and for a moment, he thought that Neji might pull away because he looked a little freaked out. However, the colossal tide of her orgasm on top of his own made him quickly forget that compulsion in favor of riding it out with her rather than fighting it.

When it was over, the pair collapsed onto the ground in a panting heap.

"Ugh," Calixta groaned, "you're heavy!" she complained, wiggling a little beneath the nearly unconscious young man.

Neji only gave a little grumble in response so he was quickly forced off of her. At first, he thought that Sasuke had shoved him off but he was still sitting a few feet away with a knowing grin on his face. Only then did he realize that it was Calixta who had pushed him off so forcibly. The notion that she still had much of her physical strength while he felt quite dazed made him self-conscious and he quickly tucked himself back into his pants. He was glad he did because when he glanced back at Sasuke, he found that his comrade had already done the same.

"Happy birthday," Sasuke quietly told Calixta in a chiding voice.

Calixta giggled foolishly and rolled over on the grass so that she was on her stomach facing him, "Thank you," she winked and then looked at Neji. "And thank you," she told him with a smirk.

Neji just scoffed.

"That was a fun game, we should play again sometime," she told them as she started to adjust her dress to fit a little more properly.

Neji gave her an incredulous look because of her light-hearted attitude. If anything, he had expected a few angry words as she collected herself and stormed off.

"Who do you think won?" Sasuke asked her with genuine curiosity.

Calixta grinned. "Well…why don't we give this one to Neji?" she proposed generously.

Sasuke appeared disappointed. It wasn't often that they drug others into their relationship and never had they awarded victory to one of them.

"He did very well," she praised glowingly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Neji finally interrupted.

Calixta shot an almost evil little grin over her shoulder at him. "Ooooh, Neji, please," she cooed in a voice all too similar to the one she was using before.

Neji gave a frown of disgusted confusion and instinctively leaned back a bit. "What are you saying? That all this was just a game to you?" he scoffed. "I felt your desperation!"

Calixta squirmed a little at the memory that evoked. "It's all in good fun," she insisted. "You _did_ enjoy yourself."

"I was curious," Neji quickly covered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Curiosity killed the cat," she reminded him with a sly grin.

"So you were just messing with me?" Neji accused.

"Oh, nothing so trite," she dismissed, "I'm not sure Sasuke could have found someone as unexpected and as pleasing as you," she winked.

Neji grumbled a few curses as he stood and started to walk away.

* * *

"Oi, Neji!" she called and to her surprise, he stopped. "Maybe next time I can be on top and you could be the one begging for your release. I can do that for you by myself so we wouldn't even need Sasuke," she teasingly tempted.

Neji gave a great growl of frustration and stormed off, punching the first tree that came within arm's reach.

"Just a suggestion!" she called after him.

"You blew it," Sasuke accused.

"Tch, I gave him exactly what he wanted right down to the bitter end," she replied, lighting a cigarette as she stood.

"He didn't want to be let down like that," Sasuke argued.

"Yes he did," she counted. "That's exactly what he wanted. He likes believing that I'm a conniving, callous slut."

"Maybe because that's what you are," Sasuke snapped indignantly.

"Only when it pleases," she conceded haughtily. "No, he wanted to be let down and it would have happened sooner or later, better that it happen now than draw it out."

"You could have just told him it was a one time thing," Sasuke insisted.

"But that's not what I mean," she stomped her foot. "I'm not out to change his opinion of me because it's not going to change, probably ever. I let you chose him because of his opinion of me. He's one of the few people left here that really distrusts me in everything I do and I don't want that to change. I need people like that around. They keep me on my toes."

Sasuke gave her a disgusted look at her pragmatic logic and then bid her good night to go talk to Neji, to see if he needed to apologize for what had just happened. She only barely managed to stop him for a moment to hand over the little remote control so she could turn off the little egg buzzing inside her.

"Oi, Neji!" Sasuke called when he caught sight of the other young man, "Wait up!"

"Ugh, what do you want now?" Neji growled over his shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?" he immediately offered.

"Why? Don't you already have all the answers? Or is that it? You think you're going to educate me some more?" Neji scoffed.

"Don't be like that," Sasuke barely protested.

"Or maybe she was manipulating you the entire time! Hell, for all I know, she's doing it right now," he dismissed and tried to walk away again.

That really made Sasuke angry. "I was manipulating her, albeit she was letting me do it, but I was in control of her. I wouldn't have been able to hold her back like that if I wasn't," he insisted.

"That's stupid. You're a liar. Why are you covering for her? She's the manipulative one!" Neji countered.

"Covering for her?" Sasuke almost laughed. "She'd be so piss'd if she heard you say that. If you really wanna know what was going on, I'll tell you. If you wanna construct your own rationalized fantasy, then I'll let you go. Which would you rather?"

"Tch you're just as bad as she is!" Neji dismissed.

"That's where you're really wrong. I'm much worse than she is," Sasuke told his comrade in a dark voice.

The short-haired young man's tone caused Neji to pause and even turn back a bit, not that he had to turn completely around to see Sauke's face and he looked serious. "So, then, how many people have you slept with? From what I understand she was very busy even before she got here which means you have quite a bit of catching up to do."

Since Neji had stopped walking, Sasuke took the opportunity to close some of the distance between them. "Most of those people don't count, as far as I'm concerned. I only count the people she's charmed on purpose, which isn't very many people, especially in comparison to what you're suggesting. I do have a bit of catching up to do, but not as much as you think…that and I'm more willing to outright take advantage of people when I'm given the opportunity."

Neji's eyes narrowed with incredulity and confusion. "Are you trying to say that _ you_ charmed _me_? You're outa you're fuckin' mind," he pushed the other young man away. Being manipulated by Calixta was one thing but to have Sasuke do it came so far out of left field for him that he just couldn't believe it.

"Well, you might be right on that one," Sasuke chuckled and then, as his a reminder of his capacity to copy the abilities of others, he closed his eyes for a brief second, reopened them to reveal his shringan, and then closed them again. After that, Sasuke's eyes returned to normal.

"You copied her?" Neji almost sounded betrayed. "What possible reason is there for you to have her abilities? Isn't one person like that already too much?"

"That's what she said," he snickered. "Kakashi had me start doing it."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, he's one of the biggest pervs around," Neji dismissed.

"He is but that's not why. He wants me to be an assassin," he nearly bragged.

Neji forced a condescending laugh. "Yeah, okay, and you thought I was rationalizing."

"I could have killed you at least seven different times tonight," he pointed out.

"I let my guard down because I trusted you," he counted.

Sasuke didn't really like the use of the past tense, but wasn't terribly surprised by it either. "I misdirected you by playing off your apprehension toward her. You were right to look for an ally when you finally decided to make a move on her but you should be careful who you chose. There are only a few people who can stand up to her like I can."

"Is listening to all this supposed to make me feel better?"

"I just wanted you to know…I guess," Sasuke admitted.

"Tch, thanks," Neji quickened his pace.

"It coulda been different ya know," Sasuke called after him. "She was playing to your expectations, giving you what you wanted, we both were."

Neji didn't turn back. He was already embarrassed and furious and he knew that was a bad combination. As he stormed off, he couldn't help thinking that Sasuke was right about one thing. Calixta's abilities, in the hands of the right person, would make a formidable assassin. As he continued to think about it, as it seemed he couldn't help doing, he realized that Calixta didn't have the mentality to be that kind of killer, even though it was very likely the reason she was led to their village in the first place.


	31. Epil 3, Switch

Epilogue 3 of 4 - Something a bit different...

* * *

Sasuke was sitting at one of his usual ramen carts one evening when Calixta approached. He gave a nod of greeting and she did the same as she took the stool two spaces down from him. He looked at her intently for a long moment, until he realized that his gawking wasn't appreciated, as it usually was.

"Quit staring, you idiot," she snapped curtly before ordering, making the man behind the counter laugh with great amusement.

"Tch, you never cared before," he countered.

She shot him a careful look but let it go.

"Any plans for this evening?" he asked knowingly.

"No," she admitted. "I'm just out to get something to eat."

Sasuke nodded. "I see, well I suppose it has been a while since you let me decide what we're doing," he half-teased, scooting one stool closer to her in the process, leaving one space between them.

"What? I _never_ said anything about you," she countered defensively.

The teen gave a disappointed frown and eyed her carefully. "It's not like you to be so coy," he mused. He considered leaving her alone but usually, when she wanted him to do that, she was sure to let him know. Since he was left guessing, he decided to continue his pursuit, moving yet one more space to his left, leaving almost no space between them. He watched as Calixta eyed him with incredulity.

"And I never realized you were so forward," she grumbled.

"You taught me the merits of forwardness," Sasuke admitted almost gratefully.

"Is that what you think this is? One of your silly training sessions?" she scoffed but still couldn't help leaning away just the same.

"If it makes you feel better to call it that," he teased, placing a bold hand on her knee.

She gasped at the advance. "Look, I just came here to eat and if you take your hand off my knee right now, I won't break your fingers," she threatened.

Sasuke gave her an odd look as he withdrew. "You're sure in a weird mood tonight," he remarked as they started eating together.

She just rolled her eyes. She should have known that out of everyone she could have encountered, he would be one of the most perceptive to something being amiss.

After they were done, Sasuke hopped off his stool, politely offering his arm. "Walk with me?" he proposed with an only mildly mocking bow.

She faltered and even blushed a little. "Okay," she quietly agreed, hopping off her own stool and taking his arm.

Even her embrace was different, a little awkward, distant somehow. Once they were well into one of the many parks in the village, Sasuke grew bold again, pulling her close and going in for a kiss.

Calixta gave a gasp of surprise and pushed him away, a strange look of challenging shock in her eyes.

Sasuke just giggled. He gave her the chance to tell him if there was something wrong. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to make her. "Still playing hard to get, are we?" he taunted, stepping toward her.

"You assume too much," she gasped and stepped away but when she saw he wasn't going to relent, she started to scamper off.

"I know you love to be chased," Sasuke called after her, easily regaining the distance she put between them.

"You perverted bastard!" she yelled back at him but then tripped and stumbled to the ground.

"Now, now, no name calling is your rule," he reminded, pouncing on top of her but the way she fought him made him falter. So, he pinned her hands on either side of her head and straddled her hips for leverage. "Besides, you can't fool me when you wear that dress," he finally confessed, revealing one item in a sort of secret code they had developed.

"The dress?" she looked down at herself. "What about it?"

Sasuke shook his head in exasperation. "You know I like this dress," crooned, leaning further down until their noses almost touched.

"I-It's not what you think," she flinched. "Leave me alone!"

Sasuke eyed her carefully through the growing darkness. "What's the matter with you? Why are you acting like this?" he demanded.

She faltered and looked away, which made Sasuke very angry. He gathered her wrists into one of his hands and used the other to force her to maintain eye contact with him. Then, before she could suspect or argue, he utilized his sharingan. He was absolutely aghast at what he saw, throwing himself backward off of her body. "I-It's-It's you!" He pointed an accusatory finger as he continued to back away from her prone form.

"Indeed," she sat up and brushed herself off.

"What's the big idea? Where's Calixta?" Sasuke demanded.

Gaara almost laughed at the other ninja's sudden total revulsion. "She's in my body," he shrugged.

"How? Why?" Sasuke barely managed.

"We discovered it on accident a while back and why not?"

"Because something like this could happen!" Sasuke raved.

"You're just embarrassed," he dismissed.

"You should be too! Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I thought you'd figure it out sooner," he mocked. "And I was curious to see what you would do. You can't really blame me for that. After all, you were coming on very strong," he tried to reason as he adjusted his clothes, wincing slightly as he tried to make sure Calixta's breasts were mostly covered.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke asked seriously.

Gaara rolled his eyes in disgust. "It's her tits," he admitted. "They're all swollen and sore. I don't know how she can stand it," he complained.

Sasuke almost laughed at him. "Well, she doesn't usually let them get that big. She usually takes care of it before it gets that bad…which was another reason why I made the advances that I did," he justified, then admitted with a sigh, "I knew something was weird, though."

"Then why didn't you stop?" Gaara asked accusingly, but it lacked much conviction because of how amused he was, in spite of his discomfort.

"Because I figured that if it was important, you would say something about it," he snapped and finally stood.

Gaara followed suit.

"I'm going back to town," the dark-haired teen grumbled.

"I'll go with you," the other agreed, matching his pace. "I'm sorry I tricked you. I wasn't really sure how to tell you," he admitted.

"Whatever. Just don't let it happen again. Once was bad enough," Sasuke muttered.

"Okay, next time, I'll let you know I'm possessing her body before you put your hand on my knee so you know that horrible pickup lines like the ones you were using won't work," he taunted.

Sasuke didn't really want to have this argument but he couldn't help defending himself. "You're the one who freaked out when I kissed you," he pointed out.

"Yes, well, if I hadn't stopped you, god only knows what you'd be trying to do by now," he scoffed.

"I could tell you exactly what I'd be doing right now," the leaf ninja laughed haughtily.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Gaara curiously prompted.

"I'd be making sure her tits didn't ache anymore," he bragged, not bothering to hide the fact that he was looking down her shirt.

Gaara felt his heart skip a beat and a tingle in her breasts. He gasped at the sensation. "Forget I asked," he grumbled after a moment.

"Are you sure? I mean, I bet they really ache. It looks like it's been several hours since she was emptied last," he continued.

"Stop it!" Gaara snapped dangerously.

"You know, I doubt Calixta would be pleased to return to her body only to have it be in pain. That hardly seems fair," Sasuke chided.

Gaara frowned because what he was hearing made an unfortunate amount of sense.

"Unless you had somebody else in mind to do the job, then far be it for me to interfere. I would even escort you to them if you like," he offered mischievously.

"I'm going back to Calixta's house," Gaara announced forcefully and, much to his dismay, Sasuke followed him. "Why do you insist on bothering me?"

"Because I want to make sure you take good care of Calixta's body while she's being so generous as to let you use it," Sasuke self-righteously replied.

Gaara eyed the taller teen carefully as he opened the door. "Then come in," he motioned, "and lock the damn door behind you."

Sasuke smirked and did as he was told. At first he had been disgusted, even disturbed, by the revelation that his kiss had provoked but now he couldn't help finding himself curiously excited. He took a seat next to Gaara in the sitting area and didn't waste any time in pulling open her blouse and exposing her breasts.

Gaara gasped at the exposure and no sooner did he begin to recover from that it happened again when Sasuke's lips met her nipple. He appreciated the other's expediency for the sake of both their comfort but the sensations provided him were so foreign that they made his head spin. He never imagined the kind of pleasure Calixta experienced through such actions, even when he felt them through her.

Sasuke couldn't help smirking upward briefly when he felt her hands on his shoulders. At first, it was a defensive gesture, a way to push him away if the need arose. Then, Gaara started grasp at, even dig his nails into his shoulders. It was so strange to see someone's expressions on another's face but he could tell now that was the dead give away, what had tipped him off even before using his sharingan to discern the truth.

"Don't stare at me!" Gaara snapped between breaths.

Sasuke nodded and switched breasts. He was rewarded with another heated gasp from the one practically in his lap now. "You're lucky you found me, ya know, instead of someone else," he proposed when he took a second to catch his breath a few minutes later.

"I'll try to remember that," Gaara grumbled. He tried to keep his tough façade but the unfamiliar pleasure was overwhelming his senses.

Sasuke switched back and forth a couple more times, making sure to use his fingers to toy with the nipple not in his mouth, before he decided he was done. When he pulled back, he did so with a smirk. Even if he wasn't immensely pleased with himself, the blush that decorated Calixta's skin, under Gaara's possession, would have caused it.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked knowingly, barely able to keep his hand off Calixta's thigh because he was afraid that might be pushing a bit too hard. He wanted to keep Gaara off balance, but not so far that he would over correct and completely end their encounter.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gaara snapped, closing his shirt and reveling in the fact that although his nipples were now incredibly sensitive, the pain and heaviness was gone.

"I think you know what it means," the dark-haired ninja let his eyes rake up and down the body of the one before him. As far as he was concerned, Gaara's posture said it all, and he had Calixta to thank for such an assertion. Gaara had absolutely no experience in a female body. Even if he had mastered the sexy-no-jutsu, being in someone else's body was almost something else entirely.

Gaara sat back on one of his hands, the other holding his shirt closed. His eyes were dilated and due to his inexperience as a female, he wasn't mindful enough to keep his legs closed. "Everyone in this village is insane," he muttered.

Sasuke's smirk grew and he utilized one of Calixta's passive abilities and was pleased at what he found. So pleased, in fact, that he snickered.

"Stop it! Get out!" Gaara ordered, frantically pointing to the door.

"It's cool. Don't freak out. I understand how you feel," the dark-haired young conceded.

"You don't know anything!" he scoffed.

"I know more than you think. Like, I know you're aroused right now," Sasuke bragged. "It's okay, she always gets that way when I suck'er tits like that so I figured you'd enjoy it too. It appears that I was right."

"How dare you! You're using her power aren't you?" Gaara ironically accused.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. I have her power and you have her body; which one of us do you think got the better deal?" Sasuke taunted.

"You are absolutely insufferable!" Gaara yelled indignantly. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because," Sasuke began as he started to crawl closer to the young man possessing one of his female companion's body, "I'm not convinced that you really want me to. I think you're just freaked out and you're letting that stop you from having a little fun."

Eyes wide with horror, Gaara reeled back. "That's not fair! Don't do that!"

"What's the matter? You let her do it to you all the time," Sasuke shrugged.

"That's totally different! She's not selfish about it like you are. She shows me what she's feeling as well," Gaara hastily explained.

"Ah, I understand but you see, that's one of the most difficult aspects to control and I wasn't sure how you'd react if I did try such a thing," he admitted and then tried to let go of some of his emotional barrier to show Gaara that he was serious in his intentions.

Gaara gasped and then looked down at Sasuke's lap, finally noticing his rather larger bulge. Then, he looked back up at the other young man's face. Just when Sasuke thought his host was going to cave, Gaara started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" he didn't exactly appreciate having his emotions laughed at.

"You really had me going there. Wow. Holy shit. I can't believe I fell for it," he forced another bout of incredulous laughter, hoping it would get the other to leave. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke was still reading his emotions and saw through the majority of the façade.

"It's understandable that you're so uncomfortable with this. Being female does take quite a bit of getting used to," Sasuke conceded.

"What do you know about being female?" Gaara scoffed.

The dark-haired young man smirked. "Probably more than I should admit. I can copy Naruto's sexy-no-jutsu and often do for Calixta," he elaborated, only willingly because he was hoping it would gain him some ground.

That made Gaara laugh again. "You're right, you probably shouldn't admit to that."

"I can change if you like, if it would make you more comfortable," he offered.

Gaara stammered for a moment, unable to keep the flood of images of their naked bodies together, both of them soft and warm and yielding out of his mind. "I don't think that's necessary," he finally managed but it was already too late. Sasuke was weaving the signs for the sexy-no-jutsu and with a puff of smoke, transformed into a naked female version of himself. His eyes bugged out of his head and he fell over backward, light-headed from sudden blood loss. Luckily, he was already sitting and didn't have far to fall.

Sasuke giggled and scampered up next to him. "Wow, I didn't realize how hard-wired into her that was…" he marveled, thinking that maybe he should take it easier on her in the future.

"I-I didn't-I don't…Ugh…" Gaara wiped his nose on his sleeve and rolled away from the naked female Sasuke. "Don't get too excited, I don't know what the hell that was but you're not that attractive," he finally snapped.

Sasuke didn't immediately change back. He was too busy thinking about what the other was saying. "I believe you. If you're really just possessing Calixta's body then that means you're basically accessing her brain and utilizing the neural pathways that are already there. I think what just happened was a sort of stimulus response that bypasses most of the conscious parts of her brain," he explained.

Gaara just blinked stupidly for a moment. Sure, the explanation made sense to him but did the other have to give it while still under the guise of a sexy female?

"But you like girls better anyway, right? Which is another reason why you should be glad you picked me up before anybody else," he bragged, drawing closer once again.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Gaara continued to stammer.

"I'm going to share with you something Calixta shared with me quite some time ago," he nearly cooed as he started to crawl between the young woman's legs. "It can be a bit strange at first but I promise it's worth it," he vowed, pushing up the short dress the rest of the way.

Gaara just stared down at the woman between his legs with incredulous horror and aroused curiosity. He was caught between his fight and flight instincts. He was apprehensive about being intimate with this person but he seemed to know what he was doing and he couldn't help letting him go. He gasped again when Sasuke stopped far short of kiss him. Instead, his head ducked down between Calixta's legs.

Sasuke could hardly believe the whimper of panic that Gaara gave when he first breathed a gentle breath on the young woman's thighs as he started to pull her panties to the side. He noted that while Gaara was already wet, his presence in Calixta's body didn't have an effect on her taste or scent. He gave the other a few slow laps and then relented for a moment to look up and revel in the expression of utter incredulity he was being given.

"I got so mad the first time she did this for me," Sasuke mused. "I hope you don't feel the same way," he told his host gently.

Gaara eyed the young woman between his legs carefully, taking in the emotions being afforded him. As far as he could tell, Sasuke was being genuine.

"What's there to be mad about?" he playfully grumbled.

Sasuke smirked greedily. "I was being stubborn. We were sort of bickering at the time and I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of making me cum for her," he admitted. "I hope you won't be as stubborn as me."

Gaara almost laughed. "We'll see," he nodded, his eyes sparkling with hopeful lust.

With an equally hopeful smile, Sasuke got back to work, this time more aggressively tasting the body he had enjoyed before but with the mind of someone he never thought he would ever be intimate with. Fortunately for Gaara, Sasuke had picked up many tricks during his encounters with Calixta, especially since most of the time, she was more than willing to guide him. This gave him a bolder sense of confidence and before he knew it, Gaara was laying on his back biting his knuckles in a futile attempt to stifle his cries of pleasure.

His head was spinning; he couldn't even fathom what it was like to think anymore except to wonder if Calixta always felt this kind of ecstasy or if much of the erotic edge was due to its novelty. Either way, it didn't matter because with every passing second, every little lick and flick of that talented tongue, he was rushing toward orgasm. He didn't realize he was starting to kick and jerk his hips until he felt disproportionately strong arms wrap around his thighs and pin him to the floor.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun," Gaara mewled, hardly aware of what he was doing other than that the little pleas seemed to make the one between his legs give him even greater pleasure.

Sasuke withdrew with a victorious grin a moment later, just before Gaara could orgasm. He couldn't help reveling in the look of dazed disappointment on the young woman's face.

"Nnngh, why'd you stop?" Gaara complained once he had the sense to.

"I just wanted to make sure you wanted it, that's all," he admitted with a shrug and started to toy with her clit by brushing his fingertips over the hood, making Gaara twitch with every pass.

Gaara nearly flew into a homicidal rage but then he remembered the one promise he'd made to Calixta to clinch their body-exchange deal. He had to be nice to her friends. "Is there a reason for you to doubt?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Sasuke tried not to awe at the other's incredible self control. "Never mind," he shrugged and went back to what he was doing. Before long, there was a small flood of sweet cum for him to lap up while Gaara lay panting on the floor before him. "Good?" he asked curiously.

Gaara gave a satisfied little whimper and a weak nod.

"I'm happy to hear that. Perhaps we could do it again sometime," he lewdly suggested, turning back into a male because he figured that now that Gaara was satisfied, the encounter was over.

Gaara blinked stupidly. The euphoria of orgasm was still fading and it made his head foggy. "You're going?" he asked, unable to hide his disappointment.

"You were trying to get me to leave for quite some time there," Sasuke teased.

"Yes, well, that was before you proved yourself to be very satisfying," he admitted cheekily.

The dark-haired teen gave an impish grin. "What'd you have in mind? Did you want me to change back again?" he proposed.

Gaara licked his lips, a gesture her found much more satisfying to perform in Calixta's body because her lips were fuller and softer than his and he felt it added to the effect. "You've been very accommodating to me tonight. Do as you please," he conceded out of curiosity.

Sasuke was surprised and decided to remain in his natural male form for at least a while. Noting that this decision left the dark-haired teen still completely clothed while Gaara was still in a state of disarray, the ninja possessing his girlfriend's body decided it was his turn to make an advance. He pushed Sasuke back onto his butt and pulled his shirt up over his head, taking his bandana with it, not that either of them cared.

Initially, the leaf ninja was surprised by the sudden forwardness. Since they first encountered one another earlier that evening, he had received no advances, no rewards for his efforts. This was a nice change and he felt that he earned it. He also didn't want to be the first one naked so he started to pull Calixta's top the rest of the way off when carefully hasty fingers started to work on his pants.

Gaara was about two seconds away from touching Sasuke's already weeping cock when a thought occurred to him that he couldn't ignore. "Sasuke, why are you doing this?" he asked seriously. "I-I just wanna know what to expect."

Sasuke faltered a little because the same question had been on his lips but he was more interested in seeing if Gaara actually intended to touch his erection. "For the only reason Calixta would allow; I'm doing it for the fun of it," he admitted almost shamefully. "Besides, after pestering you so bad, I kinda wanted to show you that my relationship with your girlfriend isn't how it seemed earlier."

Gaara tried his damndedest not to smile because after all that, he didn't want Sasuke to think he was a cock tease.

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke asked almost incredulously.

Gaara pursed his lips and ran his fingers through Calixta's long dark hair, another gesture he greatly enjoyed. "I'm curious about her lovers," he admitted.

"You wanna check out the competition," Sasuke snickered. "I can't say I blame you. I'd do the exact same thing if I were you and the opportunity presented itself. I'll have to try extra hard to make sure I measure up," he teased.

Gaara grinned, showing off Calixta's perfect white teeth.

"I can't believe you wanna do this," Sasuke marveled as they slipped him out of his pants.

"Yeah, well, neither do I," Gaara shrugged.

Sasuke snickered again as he pulled Calixta's panties aside. "Even if you had deceived me this far in believing you were Calixta, I would have figured out it wasn't her because you're wearing underwear. She never does that."

Gaara snickered as well. Then, he rose his hips to position his borrowed sex over Sasuke's erection. Just when it brushed his wetness, he hesitated, forcing eye contact.

Sasuke could feel his partner was practically shaking when he put his hands on her generous hips.

"I-I don't think it'll hurt," Sasuke tried.

Gaara smirked a little because he was probably right. "I'm just not sure what to expect," he admitted.

The dark-haired teen nodded. "That's why you're on top," he replied assuredly.

That gave Gaara more confidence than he expected and slowly started to descend on the other young man's hard length. He was only half way down when his leg muscles failed him and he fell the rest of the way down to the other's hips. He gave a great gasp and grasped Sasuke's strong shoulders. In spite of himself, he still expected some sort of pain but he found none.

"More," he finally breathed when his legs wouldn't help him upward as quickly as he desired.

Sasuke nodded and complied a little more eagerly than intended. However, his eagerness was greatly appreciated by his partner who was swimming in foreign pleasure. He couldn't help awing at the figure writhing in his lap. In a way, he felt privileged to share such an intense moment with the normally cold and stoic sand ninja. It didn't surprise him in the least, however, that it was facilitated, quite literally, by Calixta.

As soon as he was impaled, Gaara could no longer even consider his vocal outbursts, let alone think about controlling them but Sasuke didn't seem to mind. He wondered if Calixta made the same kinds of sounds. If she did, they sounded much different from his current perspective. He couldn't help digging Calixta's fingernails into Sasuke's shoulders, unable to care about any damage he might cause.

Gaara was so responsive to Sasuke's attentions that he wasn't sure how long he could hold out. One of Calixta's abilities he had yet to master was the ability to stall or even inhibit physical orgasm. He gave a grunt of restraint as he tried to slow their pace. It only worked because Gaara had yet to regain full control over his borrowed legs. That, however, didn't stop him from giving a whimper of denial at the slowing thrusts.

"If you squirm like that too much, I won't be able to hold out much longer," Sasuke informed through gritted teeth.

It was difficult but Gaara managed to comply. "How considerate," he mused.

"It's equally self-serving," Sasuke mused back.

Gaara nodded. "I-Is there another way?" he barely asked to distract his partner.

"Another way to what?" Sasuke faltered.

"Another way we could do this…I'd hate to get bored," he half-teased.

"You don't know another way," Sasuke tauntingly countered.

Gaara gave a mocking little grin. "I know plenty of ways…but I'm asking you," he managed smartly both to challenge the other and because all the positions he wanted to try required greater control of his limbs and he knew he wasn't up for that.

The dark-haired teen gave a greedy grin and laid his partner down on her back, spreading Calixta's legs as wide as they would go before reentering her, receiving a deep moan in response. He couldn't help reveling in the way that Gaara futilely reached for him but couldn't reach and was left grasping at nothing. In an effort to both show off how flexible Calixta was and to give Gaara something to hold on to, he dropped one of her legs while resting the other on his shoulder. He positioned himself so that he was straddling the leg now on the ground and doubling him over with the other.

"Ah, so deep…" Gaara gasped, one of his hands moving to Sasuke's hair and the other to the small of his back for what little leverage that would provide.

Sasuke gave a growl of satisfaction and placed a hand on the floor beside Calixta's body to hit him even harder.

"Harder," he pleaded in spite of his pride. Without Shukaku's mocking voice in his head, he found it much easier to let go.

Sasuke gladly complied even though he knew it meant he wouldn't last much longer than that, cumming about a minute later with a great grunt before nearly collapsing on top of the complaint body beneath him.

Gaara lay panting for several long moments before speaking. "You're squishing me," he playfully complained.

Sasuke just laughed and rolled off to lay on the floor beside him. "Thanks. That was fun…I hope you liked it," he managed.

He couldn't help smiling foolishly. "Yeah, I did," he admitted reluctantly. "But…can we keep this our secret?" he asked hopefully.

Having been expecting such a request, Sasuke nodded. "That's fine. I've never been someone's dirty little secret before. It could be fun," he winked lazily.

Gaara blushed uncontrollably. "I-I hate to do this but you should probably go. I don't know how much longer I'll get her body but there is one thing I want to do before then," he confessed.

"Sure thing. What is it?" Sasuke started getting dressed.

"I'm gunna take a nap," he admitted.

"Really?" he blinked curiously through the darkness.

"Yeah, since Shukaku is bound to my body, I can sleep without worrying about him getting out."

"That's great," Sasuke congratulated.

Gaara nodded and once they were redressed, for the most part, he saw Sasuke out with another bow of thanks.

After all that, he couldn't help but sleep well right up until he felt Calixta's chakra nudging him awake, at which point they switched back.


	32. Epil 4, Domination

This one takes place after Calixta moves to the Sand Village and Gaara becomes Kazekage but before they're married.

* * *

"So you and Gaara got things all worked out and everything's cool again. That's great!" Naruto smiled as he plopped down for a snack with Calixta one afternoon during his first visit to see her in the Village Hidden in the Sand.

She smiled at him. "I suppose it is," she nodded.

"I dunno how you do it," he shook his head in disbelief.

"Do what?" she blinked curiously.

"Well…Gaara, really. He's kinda creepy, even still," Naruto reluctantly admitted.

Calixta gave him a look of exasperation. "Please don't say that."

"I'm sorry. I guess I should probably try to find a better word. It's just that the two of you are so opposite but at the same time, you seem so happy together. It's weird, I guess," he tried to reason.

"Weird is a little better…and far more appropriate," she giggled, relieving some of his tension. "What's on your mind?"

He blushed a little, as he usually did when she called him out like that, even though he was pretty much used to it. "I was just curious," he began, as he often did, "when you and Gaara are together, do you just do whatever you want?"

"What do you mean?" she pressed. She had a pretty good idea but didn't want to assume anything even if it meant putting him on the spot for a little longer.

"I mean like…I know you probably didn't like sit down and set out a bunch of rules or anything but both of you can pretty much do whatever you want, right? I mean, he hasn't ever told you not to do something or vice-versa, right?" he tried to explain.

Calixta was endeared by his babble. "Ah, I see. Yes, we do as we please, though you should keep in mind that it isn't pleasing to do things that are unpleasant for either of us," she tried to answer. "Were you expecting some sort of limitations?"

His brow furrowed. "Not really, I guess. I was just wondering what your relationship was like. He's so protective of you when you're out in public but I know he's not like that when you're alone together."

She nodded at his perceptiveness and then sighed. "Since you're the one who brought it up, there is one barrier that we have yet to breach," she admitted but only because she wanted someone other than Kakashi to talk to about her sex life especially since she had only been communicating with him through letters.

"What's that?" he asked, almost too eagerly but she was endeared by his interest.

"There are things that he wants that I'm not sure I can provide. They aren't necessities, mind you, but pure wants. He satisfies my desires so fully that I feel bad that I can't do the same for him sometimes," she shamefully admitted.

"What can't you do?" he pressed. If anything, he had expected it to be the other way around.

She blushed deeply and looked away. "I know we already promised that we wouldn't talk about these things with anybody else but I'd like to hear you say it again."

He faltered but willingly obliged. "Calixta-san, you have my word that I would never speak a word of this to anyone or even hint at it in the slightest!" he vowed seriously and she gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for humoring me," she laughed a little at herself.

"I owe you at least that much," he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"It's just that…Gaara wants to see me completely dominate someone," she admitted, still unable to make eye contact.

"Can't you kinda do that?" he carefully questioned.

"In theory, I can, depending on the individual, of course…but that's not really the problem," she shrugged.

"Then what is?" he eagerly pressed.

Her blush deepened. "It would be very difficult to find a person willing to put themselves into that position," she carefully explained. "I completely understand why. It would be very embarrassing, to say the least."

"If you're…dominating them," he had a hard time saying the word but did eventually get it out, "then does that really matter? I mean, the way I understand it, when you do that kind of thing, the last thing on the person's mind is how embarrassed they are," he tried to reason.

"No," she adamantly refused. "They would have to be willing from the very start, before I even tried to charm them with my chakra. Otherwise…they would be anxious…self-conscious…even apprehensive. Gaara doesn't deal with those feelings very well," she explained. "On top of that, Gaara and I are so closely connected that he would hold sway over that person as well. I don't know anybody who would go for that."

"Oh…"

"But it's nothing to worry about. It would only serve to satisfy his morbid curiosity about my powers. Who knows, perhaps some day we will find another person willing to subject themselves to that for the sake of his curiosity," she laughed a little at the notion and wondered what such a person would be like.

From there, she changed the subject and he left about an hour later with a lot to think about.

* * *

The next time Naruto went to visit Gaara, he had a lot more on his mind. It was one of the most pleasant journeys had in a long time, however, so that help to ease his anxiety.

"Now, I know that sometimes Gaara tries to try to keep us shut up in our new home for as long as he can," as they had just moved into the Kazekage's mansion, "But I want you to know that you can hang out with us whenever you want. You don't know too many people there, even though you do make friends rather easily, so I want to make sure you don't get too bored," she offered seriously.

"That's okay. I doubt Gaara will want me intruding on his time with you anyway," Naruto dismissed.

Calixta frowned. "You haven't seen him in a while and he still kinda puts on that show about wanting to be left alone, but don't let that bother you. Actually, he really likes you."

"He does?" Naruto blinked almost stupidly.

"Of course he does, silly. You're the only person who's been able to kick his ass," she teased.

"Oh…"

"What's on your mind?" she asked suddenly.

"Nothin'," he dismissed.

"Fibber," she teased.

"I don't really wanna talk about it right now," he tried again and this time it worked.

"Yeah, okay. Just remember what I said," she winked.

That was sort of the problem with Calixta. Naruto had a very difficult time forgetting most of the things she said. Sometimes, he found her voice echoing in the corners of his mind when she was done speaking to him.

As she predicted, Gaara and Calixta spent the first day and a half of his visit shut up in his house. After that, they still spent much time together but more frequently in public. One afternoon, when Naruto saw Calixta clothes shopping with Temari in the market without Gaara, he slipped away to the sand ninja's house to speak to him about something that had been nagging him ever since Calixta mentioned it. Well, she didn't exactly mention it. He sort of pried it out of her.

"What is it?" Gaara snapped when there was a knock on his door.

"It's Naruto," he called through the door.

Gaara grumbled but called for him to come in. He had just sat down for a cup of coffee and motioned for his visitor to sit with him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he sarcastically prompted.

Naruto laughed at the other's tone. "It's just that I haven't seen you in a while. How ya been?" he began carefully.

"Well enough, better now that Baki's been put back into his place," Gaara sneered at the thought of his intrusive sensei.

"That's great. Calixta is so much happier now too," he marveled.

"She better be or I'm wasting my time," Gaara scoffed.

Naruto couldn't help smiling at the harsh endearment that was so perfectly Gaara. In spite of himself, he was starting to understand what she saw in him, not that he ever had a hard time accepting their relationship. Out of everyone in the Leaf Village, he understood Gaara the best, that is until Calixta came along.

"Is there a point to your visit or are you just bored?" Gaara snapped.

Naruto blushed in spite of himself. "Actually…there is something I wanted to talk to you about," he bashfully began.

The blonde's sudden change in demeanor intrigued Gaara greatly. He had never known the other demon host to be so meek. "Well? What is it?" he snapped harshly, hoping to make the other flinch but without success.

"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain…oh, maybe I shouldn't even do this in the first place," Naruto stood.

"Stop!" Gaara ordered before the other could start moving his feet toward the door. "Sit back down. You're here. Now, tell me why."

Naruto swallowed hard and flopped back down into his seat. "Please don't be mad at Calixta for this," he prayed.

"What?" The idea that she would do something that might upset him changed his mood from intrigued to angry.

"But you know, she and I talk a lot. Usually, I'm asking her questions about stuff but sometimes she talks to me about other things. I asked how you two were doing and after we talked about that for a while, she told me that there's one thing that you want that she doesn't think she can give you," he babbled.

Gaara blushed deeply. "She told you what?" he slammed his coffee cup on the table in frustration.

"I promised not to say anything to anybody about it and I swear I won't," he tried to cover.

"You just told me. Doesn't that mean you've broken your promise already?" he seethed.

Naruto faltered. "I-I guess it does. I didn't think that…Well, since it was about you, I didn't think it counted, ya know?"

"Why are you telling me this?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, expecting a name to roll off the blonde's tongue any minute of a person he thought would suit their needs.

Naruto bit his lip and blushed even more deeply. "If you want, I'd like to try," he offered.

Gaara's eyes grew wide with incredulity and then he burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh at me!" Naruto brought his fist down onto the table hard enough to shake the other's coffee cup.

"You can't possibly be serious!" he continued to laugh, having to wrap his arms around his stomach to help control the spasms.

"I am serious!" the blonde insisted childishly.

Gaara continued to laugh for another moment until he could get it under control enough to speak again. "I know all about your little question and answer sessions with Calixta and I don't give a damn what she told you. You could never do such a thing," he scoffed at the willful ninja.

Naruto pouted childishly for a moment. "Fine. I guess I shouldn't have even tried," he grumbled. "But…please don't say anything to Calixta about this if you can?" he tried.

"Why shouldn't I?" he snapped.

"'Cause…I know it really disappoints her that she can't do that for you and if it's not going to happen then I don't want her to know I even tried. I know she'd prefer that I not, and it seems silly to mention it if it's only going to upset her," he reasoned.

The blonde's reasoning made Gaara second guess his initial impression. "Fine. Honestly, where on earth did you get the notion that you could suit our needs?" he scoffed arrogantly.

"You don't have to get nasty about it," Naruto insisted. "And I don't know whether or not it would be any good but I trust Calixta. I think I could let her control me as much as she wanted without getting too freaked out," he replied weakly.

"Really?" Gaara flatly replied.

"I was willing to give it a shot," he managed with a shrug as he looked out the window to see if she was on her way back yet.

"What makes you think you could let go like that? You _say_ you trust her but what does that really mean?" he continued to interrogate.

Naruto shrugged again, feeling utterly defeated. "She said the problem was finding someone who would willingly submit to both of you."

Gaara pursed his lips and took another few sips of his coffee now that it was cool enough to really drink.

"Forget I was even here," Naruto started to leave again but found Gaara standing in front of him before he was even halfway to the door. "What is it?"

Gaara gave another arrogant smirk. "Does this mean you find me attractive?" he crooned.

Naruto blushed furiously. "I-I hadn't really thought about it that way…"

"Ah, so subconsciously you're attracted to me. Very interesting," he teased.

"I never said that!" Naruto insisted, pushing Gaara out of the way but only managed to get another few steps before he was stopped again.

Gaara licked his lips and looked over his guest in a way he had never considered before and realized there was some definite potential lying beneath his childish surface. "Calixta told you that we required a willing partner but it doesn't sound like she told you the main obstacle to that," he informed, his voice suddenly serious.

"Wh-What's the problem?" Naruto asked, taking a small step backward without thinking.

"Me. I'm the problem," he informed flatly.

"What do you mean? "

"For a person to be that willing, they would have to be attracted to me as well as to Calixta or they would fail," he informed darkly.

Naruto stared at Gaara for a long moment after that and then, with hardly a forethought, he closed the distance between them and tried to kiss the other young man. Gaara was so surprised that he didn't react until their lips were touching. "Ack! What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to push the forward blonde away.

"Oh? Maybe you like me better this way," Naruto winked as he wove the sexy-no-jutsu behind Gaara's back so that he would still be holding him when he changed into a female. He giggled and tried to kiss Gaara again. Once again, due to shock, he succeeded temporarily.

"You're even crazier than she is!" he continued to try to push the other teen away but was finding it difficult to form enough conviction to do so.

Naruto just giggled and pressed his body more firmly against Gaara's, feeling that he was starting to harden.

"Change back! Right now!" Gaara demanded.

"Aw, but you like it," Naruto pouted cutely.

Gaara blinked stupidly at the flawless display before regaining his sense. "Damn it! If she comes back and sees you like that-" he tried to argue.

Naruto's memory flashed back to that night at the hospital. "Okay, fine," he let it go and puffed back into his normal form.

At this point Gaara was torn between absolute rage and a feeling he didn't recognize. It was a strange mix of gratitude and desire, with a bit of mischief.

"So, what do you say?" Naruto proposed again.

Gaara blushed furiously. "I can't believe you of all people want to try this," he evaded.

"That's not what I was asking," he teasingly pointed out.

"Fine. I'll let you try," he reluctantly agreed.

"Sweet," Naruto agreed and then faltered. As much as he was hoping for that answer, part of him, the more modest part, was hoping he would get shut down. Now that it might actually be happening, he was more than a little nervous, so much so that he was worried that if he left now, he might lose his nerve. "So, now what?"

"You wanna do it now?" Gaara scoffed. "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"I-I just don't wanna over think it," he barely managed.

Gaara understood that feeling and sympathized. "Okay," he gave a sure nod and then took his turn to kiss his guest, who was much more compliant to the gesture and, after an awkward moment, started to kiss back.

Naruto could hardly believe how quickly he was becoming aroused in the arms of the volatile young sand ninja. Of course, it didn't hurt that Gaara happened to be an amazing kisser.

"She'll be back any minute now," Gaara nearly purred into the blonde's ear when their kiss broke. "She will be very surprised by this revelation," he noted.

Naruto swallowed hard. "I'm sure she will. I never even mentioned to her that I was thinking about it."

Gaara nodded in approval, having figured that much after the little speech he received a few minutes earlier. "It is likely that she will protest," he pointed out.

"If she doesn't want to, I'll understand," he gasped.

"Oh, it's not that. I'm just warning you that this might take a little more convincing on your part. I hope you don't mind having to prove yourself so much for something so petty," he deprecated.

Naruto knew it wasn't petty but at the same time, he knew that Gaara didn't want him taking things too seriously quite yet. "What do you want me to do?" he asked meekly.

Gaara pulled back to awe at the young man in his arms. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't," Naruto snapped.

Gaara smirked. "Okay. This should, at the very least, prove entertaining." Then he thought for a moment. "What should we do…" he pondered, stepping away from the one in his arms to think. "None of that sexy-no-justu nonsense."

Naruto was obviously disappointed. "But the nose bleed usually only lasts a little while. She really, really likes it," he argued.

Gaara frowned. He was willing to let it slide because Naruto did make a very attractive female, but he just couldn't stand the thought of her bleeding, especially so suddenly and violently. "How about this, then? You hang around until she gets back. She's already on her way, while I hop in the shower."

"And?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Seduce her," he snickered. "Just make sure she's cleaned up by the time I get back," he ordered.

"Uh, yeah…okay…" Naruto agreed, obviously stunned.

"Good. Now, make yourself comfortable, you have no idea what you just signed up for," he laughed merrily and ran off to the bathroom. He barely started the water when Calixta returned.

"Oh, Naruto!" she greeted with a wide grin, setting down her bags. "What's up?"

"I was bored so I thought I'd stop by. Gaara was just on his way into the shower when I knocked and he let me in so I could wait for you," he half-lied.

Calixta gave him an odd look at the half-truth, figuring that he was just downplaying the awkwardness between the two young men, which was something she could also sense. What she didn't really realize at the time, was that it wasn't just tension, it was sexual tension.

She took a seat next to him and they chatted until she was sure that Naruto had an ulterior motive for being there.

"Naruto-san, is there something I can do for you?" she questioned seriously and was incredibly surprised when he suddenly started kissing her. "Ah, Naruto-san!" she fretted. "Gaara won't be in the shower forever," she reminded.

"I know, but you said I could come to you if I got bored," he childishly complained.

She gasped again but he spoke again before she could.

"Gaara said I could have a little snack while I wait," Naruto started to open her top.

"He wha-?" she whispered but he was already starting to massage her breasts and toy with her nipples.

"You said yourself that he's mellowed out a lot," he giggled and then started suckling.

Gaara had woken her early that morning by nursing her swollen breasts but they had regained much of their volume in the meantime, leaving her all the more susceptible to his advances.

When it came time to switch breasts, he also decided to switch genders, much to her dismay as he tried to clean her up before the sound of the shower stopped.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she teasingly complained.

Then, he gave her what he had come to learn was her favorite answer for those kinds of questions, "Because it's fun," he grinned and gave a flirty little wink that caused another little gush of blood. Before she realized it, she was nodding with compliance as he resumed his duty.

"What's gotten into you?" she fretted when she heard the shower stop.

Naruto just snickered and kept going. Even when Gaara emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel, he didn't stop.

The young sand ninja couldn't help smirking at the method Naruto chose to subdue her. "Ah, Cali-san, I see you've been able to keep Naruto-kun entertained," he mused as he approached. He knew she would be able to sense that he was up to something so he didn't bother trying to hide it. He also knew, however, that although highly empathic, she was no mind reader and that taking her by surprise was often the most persuasive option.

Calixta's blush deepened and she tried to get Naruto to relent so she could form a full sentence.

"Oh, don't stop on my account," he leaned over to get a better look at the very erotic scene unfolding on his sitting room floor.

"Gaara," she managed to gasp. "What is the meaning of this?" she eventually demanded as he continued to gawk.

"Naruto-kun told me that you promised to keep him entertained if he got bored while he was here. You should keep your promises," he pointed out, moving around behind her to play with her hair.

She gave a vague nod because Naruto was nearly finished, even if he did keep toying with her nipples after they stopped providing milk. When he felt that she was about to protest Naruto's continuing to tease her, Gaara spoke up again. "Naruto-kun wants to be our playmate," he finally announced.

Calixta thought her heart was going to stop and once she recovered, which only took a split second, she forcibly pulled Naruto away from her breasts. "Naruto," she scolded. "You told him, didn't you," she accused, obviously hurt by the intervention.

"Don't be cross," Gaara coaxed as he lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes. "Even without your help, I can tell he really wants to."

Calixta whimpered. "It's not fair to gang up on me like this!" she complained willfully.

Gaara snickered. "You're right, and it's not what he's here for. We're supposed to be ganging up on him. We just wanted to make sure you were ripe to the idea."

She felt Naruto's stomach flip-flop at that but he did well not to show it.

"Naruto," she forced her gaze away from her boyfriend and back to their guest. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she questioned, her voice husky but unsure.

He frowned a little at her doubt and she couldn't help finding the pout absolutely adorable. She nearly kissed him but he answered her before she got the chance. "If you don't believe me, then check. You decide if I'm ready," he suggested petulantly.

That took Calixta a little aback. She had been expecting such a request from either of them by this point but that last part threw her off. Ready implied that if he wasn't up for it at the moment, that he hoped for that to change in the future. It reflected the dept of his determination. She had already decided to indulge them before she started to probe him with her chakra but it was nice to have his conviction affirmed in something other than actions or words. "Turn around," she finally told him.

Naruto was a little startled by the sudden order but quickly complied, allowing her to pull him into her lap until his back rested against her warm body. He gasped when she began groping his breasts, and then moaned when she started nibbling on his ear. He even whined when she withdrew slightly to turn back to the young man still comfortably seated behind them, content to watch the erotic spectacle unfolding before him.

"Ai-sama, would you mind starting a pot of tea?" she asked casually.

Gaara smiled and nodded. After starting the pot on the stove, he retreated for a moment put on a pair of pants. It wasn't that he particularly felt the need to be clothed out of some sense of modesty, either his own or their guest's, but because he made an unconscious correlation between the amount of clothes a person was wearing and the amount of power they had. It wasn't exactly a one-to-one correlation one way or the other but there were certain patterns that he had started to notice.

"Now, Naruto-kun," she gently cooed into his ear as he squirmed in her lap. "It's best that you don't try to hide any of your feelings during this. I understand that there are some things that never really make it to the surface but I will be able to tell the difference between something that is buried intentionally or unconsciously," she advised.

He gave a fitful nod as he tried to understand what she was saying while she fondled him.

"We will be very close afterwards, regardless of what happens so if you feel the need to avoid me for a while, I will completely understand," she added carefully but her words this time only elicited an almost pained whine. "What's the matter?" she asked, coaxing the young ninja to rest his head on her shoulder so she could get a better look at his face.

"Y-You think you're gunna scare me off," he accused fitfully.

His self-assurance pleased her greatly. "I suppose you're too stubborn for that," she teased and then she noticed his hands fitfully grabbing at whatever they could reach. She wasn't exactly sure why he was doing it at first but she could tell it was unsatisfying for him. "Here," she took one of his hands in hers and led it between his legs. "I'm sure you've experimented with this form by yourself. Please, show me what you've learned," she eagerly suggested.

Naruto felt his whole body flush at her suggestion but there was nothing for him to do but comply. The idea of showing off what he liked to do to himself was embarrassing to say the least but after his initial encounter with her, he started to discover the appeal of putting on a little bit of a show.

By this time, Gaara had returned and stood a safe distance away watching them. Seeing his friendliest adversary reduced to such a state was amusing to say the least. but on top of that, he was getting to know a side of the rambunctious blonde that he never really thought existed.

When he realized that both sets of eyes in the room, other than his own of course, were completely fixated on him, Naruto couldn't help laughing a little. At first, he was worried that his outburst would be taken out of context, that they might think he was mocking one or both of them but he should have known better. A moment later, Calixta laughed with him, though hers was more a short little giggle, and he actually thought he saw Gaara smiling at him in an almost affectionate way.

"For two people who like to do so much I'm surprised you like watching so much," he teased just before his self-induced pleasure could steal his words.

"Much can be learned from watching," Calixta noted. "And you are one who likes to take action so I'd say this is a fitting way to start things off," she teased back.

That's when it occurred to Naruto that Gaara might not be hanging back for the sake of his comfort, but more selfishly, because he enjoyed watching his girlfriend toy with him. The notion bothered him but only for a moment because suddenly, her hand was on his and they were working together to bring him to orgasm.

"That's right," she coaxed with a husky voice into his ear. "If you make yourself cum for me, I will cum with you," she offered. "It would be most pleasant."

He gave a vague nod and then her hand was gone from his, opting instead to resume teasing his breasts. When he did orgasm, his back arched and he gave a great moan. Had she not had such a good grip on him, he might have rolled out of her lap but she needed the physical contact to fulfill her part of the bargain and used her reaction to him to lengthen his release much longer than he was used to.

When it was over, he couldn't even see straight and the only thing that seemed to drag him back into reality was the fact that she was messing with his hair. He was in no condition to argue when she pulled out the ties of his pigtails in favor of letting his long, blonde hair fall naturally around his slender shoulders. Actually, he found the tickling sensation of his hair brushing across his bare skin quite soothing.

Unfortunately, his stupor was only permitted to last that long because the tea kettle had started to whistle. The sound was distracting enough but when Gaara casually tore his gaze away in favor of more practical matters, he felt some of the haze start to lift.

"I bet you're still hungry," Calixta proposed as she helped Naruto sit up.

The mention of food made him perk up and he was about to change back when she stopped him. "Please, stay as you are," she made a discrete glace at her boyfriend and then let matter drop.

He knew he'd be more comfortable in his natural form, which much more often came with clothes, but Naruto hesitated. The hint that Gaara might prefer him in female form wasn't surprising, but at this point, he could sense some of the sand ninja's surface emotions and he could tell there was more to it than that. It wasn't just that he found him more sexually attractive like that but also because Gaara was simply more comfortable when he was like that.

So, instead of changing back, he made his way over to the table for the promised snack. Their snack quickly turned into a meal that was cooked and served as it was made over the course of two hours.

"You're gunna get fat if you always eat like that," Gaara taunted the young blonde.

"Don't worry, dear, that's just extra incentive for us to help him burn it all off," she winked over shoulder.

Naruto fidgeted nervously with his chopsticks. When Gaara noticed their guest wasn't eating as eagerly anymore, he took a piece from his plate and offered it to him. "Aren't you hungry anymore?" he asked with an inviting smile.

When the blonde parted his lips to speak, he found Gaara leaning a little further forward to finish the motion before he could utter a syllable. He made a small sound of surprise instead but eagerly accepted the offering.

As he watched Naruto chew and swallow, Gaara continued his advance, scooting his chair and sliding his bowl closer to him, so that he wouldn't have to lean as far forward to reach him. The blonde felt himself almost trembling in the presence of the young man feeding him, but he quickly realized that it wasn't anxiety as much as it was anticipation.

He didn't even realize when Gaara started having him lean further and further forward to get his meal until he was hovering over the young man's lap. When he did realize it, he blushed and gave a bashful little giggle. His immediate reaction was to sit back in his seat but instead, he boldly leaned forward a little more to give Gaara a quick little kiss before sitting back.

The blonde;s spontaneity continued to surprise Gaara, and he found it oddly enticing. He knew from his conversations with Calixta that her former teammate was extremely unpredictable and often in just the right ways.

Gaara smirked and brought his hand up to guide the blonde's chin to kiss him a little more passionately. When the kiss broke, he gave a sideways glance at his wife-to-be. "We got any sake?"

Calixta gave a careful smirk in return. "I believe there's some in the refrigerator," she turned to check.

"The fridge?" Naruto suddenly questioned, diverting some of his attention and successfully sitting back.

"Yes," Gaara answered, "In this heat, that is much better than drinking it warm," he advised.

Naruto gave a nod of understanding. He faltered a little when she pulled out three saucers before returning with the little bottle in a small tray of ice. "Y-You want me to drink too?" he asked carefully.

Calixta gave a gentle smile. "Only if you like. I won't tell," she winked. "I just thought it would be rude to do it in front of you without at least offering," she sat down and poured them each a little saucer.

Naruto studied his for a moment, without picking it up. Then, he looked up to see that Gaara had lifted his to eye-level and appeared to be watching the cool, clear liquid swirl around. Calixta was carefully sipping hers and setting it back down before her. With a curious little frown, and lifted the saucer to his lips, giving a bitter little frown at the taste.

Gaara gave him an odd look, "Is this your first taste of sake?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh…no…" Naruto guilty replied.

Calixta smirked. "With as much time you spend with Master Jiraiya, it is not surprising."

Gaara nodded and took his in one gulp, sliding his glass over for a refill, watching the blonde's bitter expressions as he finished his as quickly as he could. Because he didn't want anymore after that, at least not immediately, he set his saucer upside down, receiving an impressed little nod from Calixta.

Then, after another gulp, Gaara took Naruto's chin into his hand again and led him in for another kiss. The blonde gasped at the contact, allowing the other to slip his tongue inside. Before Naruto realized what he was doing, he was sitting in Gaara's lap, allowing the young man to carefully fondle and caress him.

The sensations being provided him felt very good, almost too good to be able to speak, but he felt as though the other was holding back, and Naruto wanted to make sure it wasn't for his sake. However, he only managed to break their kiss before he forgot what was on his mind and went back for another. Unfortunately, Gaara stopped him with a careful finger between their lips.

"What's on your mind?" the young man asked curiously.

"I-I'm not really sure…" Naruto hazily admitted.

Gaara really liked that answer but before he could reinitiate their kiss, Calixta interjected. "He's a bit worried that you're holding back on his account," she informed offhandedly, finally pouring herself a second serving of sake.

"Ah…" Gaara nodded and returned his attention to the one in his lap, "No, I assure you, that is purely a selfish indulgence on my part."

"Oh…" Naruto blinked almost stupidly but quickly found his thoughts evacuating his brain when their lips touched again. He didn't understand how holding himself back was an indulgence but it didn't really matter.

Calixta sat back with a smile and watched them intently. She could tell that Gaara was testing Naruto's boundaries and that he was greatly enjoying doing so at his own pace. Naruto didn't realize that Gaara had a tendency to start off almost excruciatingly slow at first and then suddenly, almost without warning, switch into high gear. Calixta's smile grew when she felt that a switch was going to be happening very soon.

She was right. A few moments later, Gaara broke their kiss and leaned back in his chair, putting a little bit of distance between them. He wore an amused little grin as he took another sip of sake. Not bothering to set down his saucer, Gaara reached up with his off hand and ran his fingers across Naruto's swollen lips. "You're lips are very cute in this form," he noted casually and then smirked. "Gimme a little pout," he urged.

Naruto faltered but only because he hadn't been expecting that to be the suggestion. It made him think that he didn't really understand the request so he looked over at Calixta for verification.

She gave a gentle little smile and leaned forward. "Like this," she stuck out her bottom lip and tried to make sad-eyes. "Though yours is much cuter," she praised.

It took the blonde a moment to work up the expression that was being asked of him but the couple seemed more than willing to allow him that time as long as he was willing to try. He took a little breath and made the face they were asking for, even managing a little, "Hmph," which made Gaara's eyes dance with delight.

The young sand ninja bit his lip to keep it from twitching with the desire to kiss the one in his lap again. Instead, he settled for a satisfied, "Mmmm…" sound as he rolled his hips. "Stick out your tongue," he urged again.

Naruto's brow furrowed with confusion as his tongue slowly slid out from between his lips but that didn't seem to please the young man as much.

"Not like that," Gaara dismissed.

"Then how?" Naruto questioned incredulously. Sure, he could feel what the other two were feeling but that didn't mean he understood what they wanted of him.

"Be a brat about it," Calixta interjected plainly.

The blonde shook his head a little in exasperation as he prepared the look the other was seeking. After a second, his tongue shot out of his mouth, his eyes narrowing in a mock-glare.

Gaara grinned and almost started clapping as he leered at the expression until the other couldn't hold it any longer. Then, he made his third suggestion. "Suck my cock," he ordered eagerly.

Naruto was so surprised that he nearly fell out of Gaara's lap. "Wh-Wh-" he stammered.

The young man let himself laugh for a few seconds before speaking again, "I'm serious…but that was the best look you've given me yet," he teased, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

"O-O-Okay," Naruto barely managed to reply before carefully climbing off Gaara's lap. He felt that the young man had seen his hesitant frown as he fell to his knees, and that it displeased him greatly.

Gaara shot his girlfriend an unsure look, wondering if he had pushed too hard or too suddenly. She gave a nod of understanding in response and stood, making her way over to kneel next to Naruto. "I'll help you get started," she offered and motioned that they start by ridding Gaara of his pants.

More than happy for the help, Naruto eagerly assisted her, only glancing up once to find confirm the feeling that the young man was once again pleased. Then, Calixta held a directing finger in front of his face before leaning forward and licking her boyfriend's shaft from base to tip.

Gaara almost growled with delight and then actually did when she gave a little nod and Naruto did the same. He found he had to set down his saucer when they started licking him together. Once his length was dripping with their saliva, Calixta pulled back. When Naruto saw this, he did the same.

The young sand ninja nearly gave another growl, this time out of frustration, but then Calixta leaned forward again and gave the head of his member a gentle kiss. Naruto awed at the way she slowly sucked the swollen head between her lips, swirling her tongue around the rim before withdrawing only to linger for just a moment, teasing his urethra with the tip of her tongue.

As soon as she started to pull back, Naruto almost pushed her out of the way. Calixta managed to get out of the way just in time and sat back on her heals to look up at Gaara's face. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and his lips slightly parted, allowing her to more easily hear his little pants of pleasure.

When he felt he couldn't excite Gaara any more by that means, Naruto pulled away for a moment, "More," he pleaded.

Gaara's lips twitched into a grin and Calixta obliged his request. This time, she moved a little lower, sticking her tongue out to tease his testicles before drawing one into her mouth to suck on for a moment before letting it pop from her lips. This time Naruto did pull her away to make room for himself between the young man's parted legs.

Once the pressure started to get to him, Gaara spoke up. "That's all very good, but not what I asked for," he reminded.

Naruto faltered and withdrew, parting his lips to speak but before he could get the words out, Calixta's fingers were on his lips. She gave him an encouraging smile as she pulled open his mouth. Then, she guided him down onto her lover's length. Once the head was past the blonde's lips, she let him go.

It was sloppy but Gaara loved it because he took a certain joy in knowing that this was the first time the blonde had ever given oral sex to another man, even if he was in female form. His hands twitched with the desire to lace his fingers in the flowing blond hair in his lap. He was surprised that as soon as he repressed the urge, Naruto's hands came up and placed Gaara's on his head.

Naruto hadn't even thought about the action before he took it and didn't realize what he'd done until he could feel Gaara pulling his hair with a desperate sort of urgency. It made him work even harder as he bobbed his head and swilled his tongue in every direction he could manage.

When Gaara came in his mouth a few short minutes later, Naruto gagged on the sudden flood of fluid into his mouth. When he pulled away to regain his composure, he heard Gaara snickering down at him.

The blonde's gut instinct was to be angry with the condescending display but a gentle nudge from Calixta's chakra allowed him to push that aside simply swallow before smiling upward. However, he didn't get to see Gaara's reaction to his beaming grin because just as he managed it, Calixta was turning his head toward her and she was carefully licking the remainder of her lover's cum off of their guest's face.

The surprised expression that Naruto wore as he sat and let her do as she pleased made Gaara snicker again. This time the laughter made the blonde flinch a little. Calixta shot a careful look upward but didn't say anything because she knew her fiancé was about to speak.

"I really didn't think you'd be up for this," Gaara informed as he leered downward.

The expression of doubt greatly confused the blonde on his knees because he couldn't sense any of those kinds of feeling from him.

"It seems you are full of surprises," the redhead smirked.

Naruto couldn't think of a response for that and simply gave an expecting look upward. He knew they were nowhere near finished with him and he didn't want them to think he was stalling.

"I don't know what you're looking at him for," Calixta chided playfully. "He looks pretty spent to me."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked almost stupidly as he turned to Calixta.

"Unless you want him to do something for you…" she proposed with a giddy grin.

"What did you have in mind?" Gaara asked, nearly revealing his own eagerness.

Calixta smirked and drug Naruto into the sitting room, which was much better equipped to accommodate them. Once inside, she laid him down on his back and pushed her lover's head between the blonde's legs.

As soon as Gaara's tongue made contact with his wet slit, Naruto immediately flinched and instinctively tried to fight them but again, that instinct only lasted for a moment. This time Calixta quelled his protests by straddling her former teammate's face.

For a split second, the young ninja from the Leaf remembered something Kiba told him once, on one of the few occasions when they were allowed to speak freely about Calixta.

The more animalistic young man said that he could tell when Calixta was aroused because her scent changed, that her scent when she was wet drove him crazy. Naruto understood what his comrade meant even if he didn't really understand what he was saying.

Now he understood. With her wet sex only millimeters from his nose and the deep breaths he was taking, he could practically feel her scent entering his nostrils and making him dizzily compliant. The way that Gaara was expertly teasing his sex with his lips and tongue wasn't hurting either.

It didn't take long after that before Calixta was controlling the rhythm of their pleasure. There were even moments when she caught herself awing at the way Naruto was behaving. For the moment, his conscious mind was almost completely shut down and he was acting on the impulses of his own and his two partners. His resistance was gone and his body moved freely.

However, that only lasted until Gaara's erection returned, which made him want to take control of their situation again. So, without warning, he suddenly pulled Naruto downward. To his surprise, the blonde's cry of anguish at the separation out rang Calixta's.

"I want to show you something I've never shown anyone before," Gaara informed seriously.

Calixta cocked a curious eyebrow and stood.

"Wh-What's that?" Naruto managed.

"Sit right here and don't move off this pillow," the sand ninja ordered as he set the blonde down.

Naruto crossed his legs and shifted in place as he watched as Gaara moved behind a slightly stunned Calixta. His eyes grew wide as he watched the sand ninja's length slide between her legs, and then nearly rolled as hers did. Only Gaara's intense gaze made him keep watching. After that, he was absolutely riveted, his jaw agape as he let their emotions wash over him.

When he almost came from Gaara penetrating Calixta, Naruto was finally uncomfortable enough to make her speak.

"Ai-sama…you are worrying him," she warned but it faded into a moan as his hands moved to her leaking breasts.

Gaara looked at her for a moment and then back to their guest. "Can you feel it?" he asked eagerly.

The blonde started at the sudden question. "Feel…" he repeated vaguely but the query had refocused his attention.

Calixta moaned again, this time much more loudly than before, then her breath caught in her throat. She tried to speak again but ended up just rolling her head from side to side on Gaara's shoulder.

Naruto almost asked if she was okay because she didn't exactly look okay but he could tell that she couldn't have been anything but. "I feel so much right now…" he almost complained, not because he was overwhelmed but because he couldn't pin down what the other wanted him to.

Gaara pursed his lips for a moment before holding his lover a little more tightly. "Don't hide it from him," he urged with a whisper into her ear.

The blonde wasn't sure how to feel about what he heard but knew better than to say anything about it, especially after the extra rush of emotions that he received a moment later. It was almost enough to bring a tear to his eye and he finally lost control of his female form, only then realizing that she had been helping him maintain it. It was the first time in his life that he felt awkward about being fully clothed so he didn't think twice about stripping down and Gaara didn't say anything about him getting off his pillow since he didn't see fit to interfere.

"It's love…" the leaf ninja finally answered when he recognized the heavy yet fluttering feeling he was receiving.

Gaara smiled and finally started moving inside her.

It took Naruto another few moments to realize that the loving feelings he felt weren't just Calixta's, they were Gaara's too. The notion that Gaara would let him so in so fully, deeply moved Naruto and he sat, jaw agape at what he was feeling, and before long he could differentiate between the two energies being channeled through him.

Shortly after Naruto's vague anxiety faded, Calixta reached for him. "Na-ru-to…"

His name was barely spoken but to the blonde teen, she might as well have screamed at him. However, he couldn't fathom what he should do about it. Much of him wanted to rush to them but Gaara's prior imperative left him glued to his seat, though he was almost trembling.

Gaara could feel his comrade's shift in anxiety and when it started to turn from awe to an awkward uselessness, he decided to throw him a bone, reaching for him as well. Though he didn't say the other's name, the look he gave said more than words could.

Again Naruto's body was in action before his brain realized what he was doing, his fingertips only millimeter's from her skin. Both Calixta's body and that of the young man behind her seemed to lean into his touches. That encouragement made him greedy in a way that made his stomach flutter because he knew there was no holding back.

Calixta made a strange little sound when Gaara stopped thrusting and withdrew from her. Instinctively her hands moved, one to each of their bodies, hoping to grab their hands but settling for whatever she made contact with first. Gaara took her hand without thinking and she ended up grasping Naruto's forearm. Once she was sure of her grip, she looked up into Naruto's eyes, further strengthening the bond between them because she sensed what was about to happen next.

A moment later, Gaara slowly pushed her toward him as he let go of her hand. To his surprise, it wasn't Calixta that complained about it.

"Ah, where are you going?" Naruto gasped just before their bodies became flush and their lips met.

The redhead just gave an affectionate little smile as he continued backward until he reached one of the small end tables in the sitting room. From it, he withdrew a small clear bottle and immediately returned.

Naruto didn't see what the other was doing because Calixta was already starting to guide him into the place that her lover had abandoned. His eyes slid shut as he moaned into their kiss which lasted until he realized that Gaara was sitting a few feet from them rubbing oil into his cock. At first, he thought the other was pleasuring himself as he watched them start to couple but when he managed to turn his head to look, he realized that he was simply making sure he was thoroughly coated before returning to them.

"I never imagined that you'd be so good at this," Gaara half-teased but received a scolding look from Calixta.

"Not the time for talking," she sternly informed. At this point, she felt that they would only impede their progress and since she was supposed to be in control of the situation, she decided to assert that fact.

Gaara gave a playful frown. "Fine, I'm just trying to figure out which one of you I'm gunna cum inside," he crudely elaborated.

Naruto's heart nearly stopped and then started to race when he saw the greedy look Gaara was now giving him.

Reaching up to grab the blonde's chin, Gaara continued, "I sense an eagerness from you that I did not expect," he informed almost braggingly.

"You will take me," Calixta asserted as she continued moving her hips with Naruto's.

"If you insist," Gaara conceded. "Perhaps I will have better luck another time."

Naruto had been about to say something in his defense but the implication that Gaara was pleased enough at this point to desire a subsequent encounter stole his words.

"Not for your sake," Calixta quickly told Naruto in an almost threatening voice. "I want both of you totally focused on me," she informed seriously.

Because they could both feel how genuine her words were, neither of the young men argued. They could feel an intense snapping in the back of their minds, and wanted what she wanted.

They nearly toppled over when Gaara reentered her, this time through her back entrance, and Calixta gave a great moan. However, she could feel Naruto's hesitation so spoke one last time before eliminating words from the equation. "You have good rhythm. Trust yourself," she told him breathily.

Naruto trusted Calixta without a second thought and through her he found an implicit trust in Gaara as well. Because of this, he was able to trust himself as she requested and continue without worry. She was proven right a few short moments later when they found their rhythm and she was allowed to let them hold the majority of her physical weight while she carried the weight of all their chakra.

The two young men inside Calixta could feel each other moving inside her, both in her chakra and in her body. She let them cum just before Naruto's arousal could become painful and she made sure it happened at roughly the same time. They collapsed into a heap when Calixta started to let her control wane a moment later.

Naruto was well on his way to passing out as soon as his head hit the floor so he hardly noticed when someone slipped a clean pillow under his head and covered him with a soft blanket. He did, however, take great notice to the way Calixta's body never stopped touching his as she cleaned them up and cuddled up next to him.

Gaara gave an affectionate smile and laid back down on Calixta's other side. He stayed with them like that for over an hour as they slept before slipping away to collect himself in private. He had shown more of himself than he expected, even when he started to conjure up wild ideas in the shower, and desired a few moments of solitude to come to terms with what he'd just done. He wasn't feeling as vulnerable as he thought he would and wondered if Naruto felt the same way. With as relaxed as he was while sleeping, it was likely that was the case. It was one of the few times since Calixta had come to live with him that he felt even the slightest twinge of jealousy brought on by his demonic insomnia.

Naruto awoke a couple hours later when his stomach started to growl. He was surprised that Calixta was still cuddled against him even though she had obviously awoken some time ago.

"Ah, Cali..xta," he barely said as his eyes fluttered open.

She leaned toward him to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead before pulling away a little. "How do you feel?"

The blonde quirked an odd look," You tell me," he teased.

"It took me quite some time to withdraw my chakra from you. I would rather not push it right now," she admitted.

"Oh…" He paused to consider himself for a moment before answering. "I feel pretty good, actually," he bashfully informed.

She nodded approvingly. "But hungry," she teased when his stomach growled again.

The blonde's blush deepened a little until her stomach did the same and then they both laughed. Naruto redressed while Calixta straightened up the room, putting the soiled items in a large laundry basket hidden in the closet. Once he was dressed, though, he felt a little awkward because she was still walking around naked. Fortunately, she excused herself a moment later, after giving him directions to the dining hall where Gaara would no doubt be waiting for him.

Though, she forgot to mention that, since it seemed obvious to her, but Naruto was still a bit startled when he saw the redheaded sand ninja sitting patiently at the dining table.

Gaara hadn't been seated long, having only poured his second saucer of sake as he waited, and greeted his guest with an oddly affectionate indifference.

They spoke, somewhat awkwardly for a moment before Naruto blurted out what he was thinking. "Uh, Gaara…I-I just want to say…uh, thank you…" he managed.

That made the host quirk a strange little look.

"What?" Naruto shifted uncomfortably under the indeterminable look, finding that he almost wished he could still sense what the other was feeling.

"I thought that was what I was supposed to say," Gaara chided somewhat mischievously.

"Oh…uh…" he stammered. "Okay," he looked somewhat expectantly at his host.

Gaara snickered. "I didn't say I was going to thank you, I simply implied that it is more my place than yours to be doing it."

"Oh, well, either way, yeah, thanks…I really mean that," Naruto asserted.

The redhead gave a polite nod and downed his second serving of sake. "Fair enough," he conceded just before Calixta entered.

She knew there would be some tension between them but was pleased that it was minimal. Apparently, she had done well enough to ease majority of their discomforts. So they ate with intermittent but pleasant conversation. Then, when Calixta decided that she was going to bed, Gaara did something that neither of them really expected.

"You still look very tired, why don't you retire as well?" the shorter young man proposed.

"Oh," Naruto tried not to yawn, "Yeah, that sounds pretty good." He stood and attempted to exit.

"The bedroom is that way," Gaara motioned in Calixta's general direction.

The blonde blinked a couple of times with shock.

Calixta just shook her head in exasperation as she took Naruto by the arm and lead him away.

Once they were in the large bed together, Naruto finally spoke his mind. "Calixta," he began carefully.

"What is it?" she lazily prompted.

"I-I don't want to sound ungrateful. I hope you can feel how grateful I am but I don't understand…" he trailed off.

She smiled gently at him as she laid down, guiding him to do the same. "I know. I'm sorry I can't help that. Just know that we are equally grateful," she eased and then fell asleep.

Naruto just laughed to himself and drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

When Naruto returned home, he had a lot on his mind and since he didn't have Calixta to talk to about it, he went to what he had learned was the next best thing, Kakashi.

"Welcome back," the silver-haired man greeted. "Come on in," he motioned. "Did you have a good vacation?"

"Yeah, it was great," he admitted with a slight blush.

"You look relaxed," the older man commented.

"Uh, yeah," he agreed.

"Did you have fun?" Kakashi pressed mischievously.

"Actually…I wanted to talk to you about something," he began shyly.

"What's that?" the older man pressed, curiosity obviously piqued.

"Something happened while I was there," he tried.

"Something? What kind of something?"

"Something good…I think…" he tried.

"Well, that's a start. What happened?" he pressed.

"They…sort of invited me to join them," he attempted.

"That is interesting. I wasn't aware that Gaara joined Calixta when she was being intimate with others," the older man noted.

"I don't think he usually does," the blonde explained. "It was sort of a special thing."

"So, if it was good and interesting and special, what's the problem?"

"I'm not sure if there was a problem. I'm just confused," he admitted.

"Okay, start from the beginning," he sighed.

Naruto rehashed the important parts as best he could as well as trying to explain what had sparked the encounter in the first place. After much stammering and self-correction, he managed to tell the story.

"Okay, so what's the problem?" Kakashi asked again when the story was obviously over and they were both blushing a bit.

"I just don't understand why I was there, I guess," he shrugged.

"Well, did you say that your purpose was to be dominated by both of them? They couldn't have done that without a third person," he reasoned.

"But…I'm not sure it was just that," he tried to think.

"Can I ask why you wanted to do all that in the first place?" Kakashi suddenly distracted.

"I already said, it was because she'd done so much for me that I wanted to give back. It's not like it was bad or scary or anything. I trust Calixta," he rationalized.

"Do you trust Gaara?" the sensei questioned.

"I never really thought about it," he shrugged.

"Perhaps you should."

So, the young man did. "I don't know if I trust Gaara by himself but when Calixta's around, yeah, I do."

Kakashi smirked but it went unseen. "Well, the way I see it, what you did, especially since you initiated it, took a lot of trust on your part. I doubt Gaara's ever felt that from anyone but Calixta. I bet he really enjoyed that feeling."

"Yeah…I suppose…"

"And I doubt it stops there. You have all manner of good feelings about Calixta and when you were together I bet you felt some of those feelings for him too," Kakashi surmised.

"I guess…" Naruto tried to process the implications.

"I mean, if you let your guard down that much, that means you let them both see whatever they wanted in you. It also means, whether you realize it or not, that you could have seen any part of them that you wanted."

"So…Gaara trusts me?" Naruto tried to surmise.

"I think that's part of it. He doesn't get to really trust very many people."

"I didn't realize," he admitted.

Kakashi knew Naruto was smarter than that, even if he didn't realize it. He knew that his student already understood instinctively what he was saying. It was his conscious mind that needed to do some catching up, which made it easier on the teacher to humor his student. "Anything else?"

"I think that's it," he shrugged.

"You don't sound sure."

"With Calixta, I'm never sure," he laughed but then grew serious. "I just don't understand how they could feel such intense love for each other and still want more. I mean, if I felt about somebody the way they feel about each other. I don't think I'd want anything else."

"Do you think they're being greedy then?" Kakashi carefully posed.

"I would never call Calixta greedy," Naruto quickly defended. "And Gaara doesn't seem like the greedy type either."

"Then perhaps they are simply searching for something that you already have, that you're so used to having that you don't think about it anymore," he proposed.

That notion triggered a series of flashbacks in his mind. He had felt each of them drawing certain emotions from him more than others. He remembered feeling the push of Gaara's chakra when he had intense feelings of friendship, trust, camaraderie, and many other deeply seated emotions, and the sensation of those feelings being pulled from him. And from Calixta, he could sense great joy in being able to provide for Gaara like that with her empathy without harming either of them.

"That seems to have struck a chord," Kakahi noted. "And it is getting late so unless you have more pressing matters, I think you should go to bed."

Naruto gave a grateful nod and complied, feeling even better about his vacation than when he left.


	33. Epil 5, Solitare

Part 5/4 because I just couldn't help myself...

* * *

It had been a rather long week for Calixta. In addition to her normal duties, Kakashi had her start a new training regime with Sakura in the hopes of further developing her natural healing capabilities And if that wasn't bad enough, apparently Sasuke was having a rough couple of days as well because every time he had come to see her, he had been especially taxing on her, both emotionally and physically. All this had her taking a longer walk than usual through the forest, in an attempt to center herself. It had taken her sensei quite a while to realize that her casual treks through the forest were almost like hitting a reset button for her casual empathy, because at times, the day to day emotions of those around her were a bit much. Actually, it had been his idea that she take the afternoon off to find comfort among the trees and animals that resided along the edge of the village. He even offered to tend to Satu for her while she was gone, because even though her animal companion brought her much comfort while she was in town, her domestic pet seemed to distract from the wild surroundings.

However, her sensei and close friends weren't the only ones to notice that she seemed to be starting weary of having to manage herself in the presence of others. As she casually walked through the trees, her thoughts all but leaving her as she immersed herself in the soothing feeling of creatures who did not have the kinds of worries as humans, she started to feel the presence of another sentient being. This in itself wasn't unusual. She was by no means the only person in the village who sought out time in the forest for personal reasons, but this time it felt different. It felt like this person was interested in her.

Calixta paused for a moment. The only person who ever approached her in the woods was Kiba when he happened to be there himself. She appreciated that he didn't go out of his way to follow her on her walks of solitude but did occasionally happen upon her there. Even then, she thought that encounters with him seemed more natural there than anywhere else. However, only a brief impression of the presence told her that this was not the animalistic young man with wild hair and eyes that she had grown so fond of.

In fact, even after several minutes of walking and continuing to reach out with her empathy, she still couldn't determine who it was. She could, however, tell that while they were, in fact, interested in her, they didn't seem to have any malicious intentions. When she realized this, she stopped again to look around. It felt like she was being watched, but she couldn't see anyone no matter how hard she looked. For a moment, she thought that maybe Neji had followed her into the forest, as he would easily be able to observe her from a great distance, leaving no chance of her being able to catch sight of him in return. She sighed, both in relief and frustration, when she determined he was not the mystery presence. A few frustrating seconds later, she considered calling out to them, but she could sense that they wouldn't answer.

Then, all of a sudden, she got the overwhelming urge to run. It was unsettling, but her legs obeyed even before her mind had a chance to process the compulsion. When she did finally realize that whoever had been observing her was the one causing the sudden drive, she felt a little more at ease. She knew that was strange, that others would be more disturbed by the notion that someone else could compel such an action. But for her, the internal compulsion to flee was usually caused by danger.

It didn't take long for her to realize that whoever was causing this action was doing it to mess with her. Perhaps it was Kakashi. This wouldn't have been the first time he used his emotional distance from her to test her, so it wouldn't be terribly surprising if it was him. Though, she would have been more than a little annoyed that he suggested she take this time to relax only to ambush her in such a way. But alas, the undercurrent of amusement that she felt from the mystery person eliminated him because while Kakashi did occasionally find her behavior amusing, he wouldn't test her like that simply for his amusement.

That made her think that maybe Sasuke had seen fit to use her to entertain himself, to distract himself from his recent frustrations. She would have been rather proud of him if that was the case, because it had been quite some time since he had been able to keep his presence a secret from her, but that was not the case. She gave another small grumble of frustration when yet another one of her guesses was eliminated.

This went on for the better part of an hour before she finally began to tire. "Please," she panted. "Please, at least give a moment to rest," she pleased breathlessly.

The compulsion didn't relent until she was near the stream, where she stumbled to a stop and fell to her knees before the cool running water. She gave a silent thanks that whoever was toying with her was at least considerate enough to not only let her stop before total exhaustion but lead her to a place where she could refresh herself a little. While she got a drink and caught her breath, she felt the presence withdraw, making it that much easier for her to gather her bearings. She laughed a little when she realized that more than anything, she was frustrated by her inability to determine who was messing with her. After a few minutes, her thirst was quenched and her breath even, so she stood and looked around again, though by this point she didn't really expect to find anything.

Then, just as she was about to turn and walk back to the village, if only to see if whoever was compelling her movement would continue, she found she couldn't move. That feeling of immobility was what finally caused her to panic. Her heart raced even faster when she finally felt the enigmatic presence behind her. She struggled for a moment to turn and see who it was, but continued to find herself incapable of movement, which was much more distressing than what she had been experienced before.

When she realized that she would not be able to physically break free and that her obvious struggle to do so was further delighting her captor, she took a deep breath to steady herself and tried to relax.

"That's it?" the presence finally spoke.

She couldn't help smiling with both relief and amusement when she recognized the voice. "Shikamaru," she sighed. "I should have known."

"You really didn't know it was me?" he questioned seriously.

She giggled a little, wishing she could see his face, as his victorious smile would have been worth all that trouble. "You are very good at hiding yourself," she complimented. "And we are not close enough for me to have figured it out without a little help."

He snickered and made her turn around to face him, rewarding her with the sight of the smile that she had be craving to see. "You went through an awful lot of trouble to catch me like this," she pointed out when she saw him standing on her shadow.

The dark-haired young man with the spiky ponytail smirked. "Not at all. You did all the work for me."

Her matching smile turned to confusion a moment later when she realized that he was not approaching her as she expected. "I trust I was sufficiently entertaining?" She cocked an incredulous eyebrow as she watched him, one foot firmly planted on the head of her shadow, as he leisurely leaned back against a large pine tree.

He didn't reply to that, at least not verbally. Instead, he raised his hand, forcing her to do the same. He reveled her gasp as he brought her hand up to the collar of her shirt, hooking her fingers on the hem of the fabric and slowly started to pull outward.

"Y-You don't have to do this. With only minimal coaxing, I'm sure you could get me to strip for you," she bargained.

He didn't answer her, this time because he was too distracted by thinking about how convenient her manner of dress was for him. She always dressed simply, and this was no different, but this was the first time he had ever really appreciated it. He stared lecherously at the long, sleeveless dress she wore, the way it crossed over her middle and tied at the right side of her generous hips.

Once he had her pull away enough of her dress to see the top of her breasts, he stopped. "Do you always go without a bra?" he asked.

She blushed deeply at the direct question. "My breasts change size throughout the day. It is generally more comfortable to go without," she admitted.

He liked that answer and had her finish pulling the top of her dress away from her breasts and took a moment to marvel at how quickly her nipples hardened in the cool forest air. "So...you're not going to fight me?" he curiously inquired.

"I don't really see the point," she practically snapped, if for no other reason than that he was questioning her actions. She understood that a struggle of some sort on her part was probably expected, but she also understood his method. He liked things easy and he had obviously put some consideration into what the easiest way to approach her would be.

He shrugged. He didn't really think she was one to put up a token struggle, but Sasuke had indicated when he spoke of her, that she at least had half a chance of thwarting him if she put her mind to it. Then again, Sasuke, for all his experience, wasn't always right about everything. So, sensing her irritation, he moved her hand to one of her exposed breasts and had her start to fondle herself.

When her fingers finally started to tease her nipple, she gave a rather pathetic little whine. "Nnngh, it seems you cannot control all of my movements," she mischievously pointed out.

He didn't like anyone pointing out the flaws in his techniques, but decided to humor her. "Oh?" he feigned disinterest.

"Unless you aren't attempting to control my involuntary movements," she retracted.

With that in mind he pushed off the tree he was leaning against. Making sure to keep at least on foot on her shadow at all times, he moved closer to her, much to her delight. As he approached, he was able to see what she was referring to. "Why are you trembling?" he asked, using his curiosity to cover his slight concern.

She wanted to shake her head 'no', but since she was unable, she simply gave him a challenging look.

Now he really wanted to know what was causing her to shake like that, so he reached for her unoccupied hand.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" she continued to challenge.

"I don't see why not," he retorted and used his control to make her raise her left hand so that it was nearly touching his right.

"I'm surprised no one warned you not to touch my hands," she haughtily replied.

"Oh, I know about that," he dismissed and finished the action of setting her open hand down on his waiting palm.

She made a quiet little squeak when they finally touched. Her reaction would have been greater if he had seen fit to afford her any more physical contact than that, but he was wiser than that. Regardless, she did not feel the need to hide her emotions from him. He was so curious and daring that it was difficult not to give into him.

"You're excited," he informed evenly and let his hand fall away, not surprised that it lingered near hers for a moment as though magnetically attracted to her. "So, does that mean I don't have to worry about you calling for your boyfriend or using his strength against me?" he practically accused as he carefully stepped away from her again.

She whined again, this time at the loss of contact, before answering him. "I don't think that will be necessary...unless you really feel like pushing your luck. I'm sure you realize that the weaker I am, the more likely I am to do something like that, even involuntarily," she answered.

Shikamaru nodded in approval and moved her hands to untie the sash at her waist, allowing her dress to hang open. There was a long moment after that where he simply stared at her, as it was the first opportunity he felt he had to so brazenly gawk at her without being called out for it. He usually kept his eyes away from her because the embarrassment of getting caught staring and the inevitable teasing from his friends that would follow was more trouble than it was worth as far as he was concerned.

"You are too attractive," he finally stated after several long minutes of taking in every curve of her body.

His tone perplexed her. He didn't sound accusing or disgusted, as many others had when they said such things to her. "I can't help the way I look," she replied, only then realizing that she was rather short of breath because even though she wasn't moving, the anticipation was almost more than she could handle.

He shrugged again, knowing that she was right and appreciative that she saw fit to dress as conservatively as she did, not that it did her much good at the moment. He looked her over one more time to help him decide what his next move should be. "You're being very patient with me," he noted when he started to be able to see the wet spot in her panties.

Even if she had a retort for that, it would have been cut off by the slight gasp she gave as he nearly closed the distance between them again. She was still trembling lightly, but it was more erratic now, and she gave a high pitched squeal when he tapped the damp crotch of her panties with the pads of his fingers. After that, she momentarily found her words again.

"You are an incredible tease," she half complemented, half complained.

"Only if my attempt is to withhold your satisfaction," he pointed out and then tapped her again. He loved the way her entire body reacted to the smallest touches. "Really, if such little contact excites you so much, it would be better if I held back. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you," he playfully taunted.

She almost told him that he was not capable of such a thing, but thought better of it. Even if he didn't have it in him to overwhelm her, she wasn't up for having him try. "I am only excited as you are," she replied as evenly as she could.

"You don't think I could," he smugly determined, "even without your boyfriend's help," he added.

She rolled her eyes in irritation. "It's not what you want," she stated.

"So you know what I want?" he continued to taunt as he lightly ran his fingers up and down her slit through her underwear.

"I know you don't want to break your game," she smirked. Now that he was at least providing minimal physical attention, her thoughts were starting to clear a bit. "Especially, since you couldn't repair me by yourself

He gave her a quizzical look and had her set her hand in his again. He could sense that she was becoming impatient with him and that at this point, she wanted nothing more than increased physical contact. He also sensed something else. "You are holding back your pleasure from me," he stated.

"And you are very perceptive," she smiled and felt his other hand starting to rub little circles over her clit.

Before he realized what he was doing, he nearly had their fingers laced together and he was pressing even harder between her legs. He was just about to close the distance between them by pressing their bodies together when he suddenly stopped and pulled away. "You want more touching," he informed when he was sure he could keep his voice even, which was difficult with the way she was looking at him now.

She almost looked like a trapped animal, and the was a fire in her eyes that told him that she could break free whenever she pleased, even if it would take significant effort. But more than anything, he could feel her chakra pressing in on him, coaxing and provoking him. He almost couldn't believe how strong the urge to pounce on her was. To help keep himself from doing just that, he took another step back. This time, it wasn't as much to put more distance between them, but so that he could watch as he moved her hands back to her own body, one to her breast, the other slipping beneath her panties.

When she saw the trickle of blood streaming from both his nostrils, she giggled, sending an intense shiver up his spine, back down, and into his groin. He was already partially erect, and rather proud of himself for not being more so considering the circumstance, but with that little push he felt himself hardening further. He would have been at least a little embarrassed by how much her tittering little laughter had on him if he didn't greatly appreciate the greedy, almost hungry look in her eyes and the way she bit her lip as she watched his member shift in his shorts.

That look made him want to take action once again. This time, as he drew closer to her, he pulled the tie from his hair, letting it fall down around his face. Without touching her any more than necessary, he carefully pulled some of her hair away from her face and secured it behind her head in a messy half ponytail. Then, he cupped her cheeks in his hands and initiated a slow seductive kiss. When she moaned into his mouth, he barely gave into the urge to deepen the kiss by tracing his tongue along her lips until they could properly kiss again.

As frustrating as it was for her to have him holding them both back so much, she loved his slow, determined advances, which was why she was taken completely by surprise when she felt something gently probing her backside. She gasped but was incapable of breaking his kiss or keeping from touching herself in the ways that he directed. She whined a little as she felt something she couldn't identify wiggle between her cheeks and tease her puckered entrance.

"Wh-?" she panted when he finally pulled away again.

He just snickered at her confusion, figuring that she was smart enough to figure it out on her own eventually. He rather liked that he could surprise her and wanted to take another short moment to visually survey her before making his next move. Her eyes were half-lidded but still firmly fixed on him as he increased the pressure from her hands, making her pinch and tease her nipples with one hand and finally penetrate herself with the other. Her shaking had finally stopped but was replaced with another, more interesting, involuntary motion, the slight gyration of her hips as he worked her toward orgasm.

When he felt that she was right on the precipice of release, he made her stop and quickly pulled her hands away from her body, even easing the pressure on her back entrance slightly. He awed at the way her breath came in short pants as she tried to help him hold back her pleasure, knowing that if she really wanted to, she could have pushed herself over the edge at that point even without touching herself.

She expected him to laugh, at least a little, at her struggle, regardless of what drove it, and was immensely pleased that he just smiled at her with admiration. What pleased her almost as much was that she sensed from him no desire for her to beg for her orgasm, though he did seem to greatly enjoy her whine of denial.

"Your other lovers don't tease you this much, do they?" he noted, giving her a short moment to recover a bit of her sense before finishing what he'd started.

Again, she wanted to shake her head 'no' but was incapable. "Only when they also desire teasing," was her answer, affirming what he'd overheard Tenten tell some of the other girls when she thought no one else was listening, that how others treated her reflected just as much about them as it did her.

Then, he stepped closer to her once again, though again not as closely as she would have liked, and took her right hand in his left. This time, when he pressed their palms together, he laced their fingers and returned control of her hand, allowing her to return his grip with equal force on her own. Even just that seemed to have her nearly cumming again.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," she admitted breathlessly.

He gave an appreciative nod and used his right hand to undo the fly of his shorts, pulling them, along with his underwear down far enough to free his erection. After a few seconds to appreciate the hopefully expectant look downward she gave at the sight of his bare arousal, he took himself into his hand and started to massage. Though he keep his eyes locked on her face, on the corner of his vision, he could see her free hand twitching, even straining its shadowy bindings. Because it was so distracting for both of them, he brought her hand down to rest on his bare hip.

With that, she could feel he was ready to finish their encounter and after so long of having him withhold most of his chakra from her, she felt nearly intoxicated by the sudden rush that passed between them through her hands.

"You said you could cum just from the feeling of someone else's orgasm," he reminded.

"Uh-huh," she barely replied.

"I want that," he stated plainly.

"Uh-huh," she managed to agree. She could sense so much from him too suddenly for her to do much else. She could feel that he had been thinking about that for quite some time and the anticipation that caused. She felt how intense his arousal had become just from watching and toying with her and how grateful he was that she had been willing to play along for the sake of his enjoyment. But more than anything, she could feel that he was very close to the brink himself and could see him gritting his teeth to hold it at bay for as long as possible.

With their face now only inches apart, he could hear every little sound that passed her lips and as her cries of sympathetic pleasure increased in volume, it soon sounded as though she was screaming in his ear. When he glanced downward, he saw that she had finally soaked through her panties and was starting to drip down her shaking thighs. As he stroked himself closer and closer to his goal, he could feel her hands unconsciously tightening on him, her nails digging into the back of his hand and the side of his hip. It almost hurt, but that only made it that much easier to prolong their intense moment.

When he finally came with a barely stifled groan, he watched in awe as her entire body shook, her empathetically impassioned sounds ringing in his ears. It was almost too much for him, especially when he realized that she was making it last for as long as she possibly could, milking every last bit of pleasure from him to satisfy herself before he felt her grip loosen and her vocal appreciations tapered off into pants as she fought to catch her breath.

As a small thanks, he leaned upward and gave her a sweet little kiss on the forehead before sidestepping off her shadow, finally relinquishing control. Though when he did, she stumbled and started to fall. He barely caught her before she hit the ground. He was startled and more than a little worried until he realized that it was relief and exhaustion that had caused her to fall. He cradled her head and curiously watched her eyes roll this way and that as she tried to gather her bearings and waited until she seemed to have regained at least some of her bearings before speaking.

"Thank you, Calixta-san. That was amazing," he told her earnestly, earning him a rather silly smile in response.

"My legs feel like jelly," she laughed a little. "It's a good think you were holding me up the way you were, or I would have fallen down much sooner."

He nodded and helped her put her dress back into place. When he deemed them presentable enough to return to civilization, he scooped her up and carried her home. The little fluttering he felt in his chest as she snuggled up against him and slowly drifted to sleep in his arms made him take his time in getting her back to where she belonged.

That feeling lasted until he started up her walkway, until he saw that there was someone there and that they were obviously waiting for her. He tensed a little, which caused her to stir in her sleep, when he realized it was her sensei. A sudden flash of guilty panic rushed through him, nearly waking her, as he tried to approach her front door unflinchingly.

"Ah, Shikamaru-kun," Kakashi quietly greeted once he was close enough to do so.

"Kakashi-sensei," he nodded respectfully.

Kakashi gave his most unusual student a surveying look and seeing that she appeared not only unharmed but rather peaceful, he looked back to the young man holding her. "Follow me," he ordered and led them inside where he helped Shikamaru tuck Calixta into her bed. Then he led the young man back outside, carefully closing the door behind them. "Did you have fun?" he playfully accused.

"Kakashi-sensei...I-" he began but just ended up stammered rather pathetically.

"I should be very annoyed with you right now. I don't know if she told you this, but I suggested she take a walk in the woods to get away from people for a while," he informed.

"She never said-" was as far as he got before he was cut off again.

"But with as peacefully as she's sleeping, I'll let this go," the masked man added but when Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, he continued, "if you tell me what happened."

The young ninja felt his racing heart leap into his throat and failed in his attempt to swallow it back down again. "I-I-" he started stammering again.

Kakashi secretly smirked. "Don't panic now. I bet she's still pretty tied to your chakra. If you wake her, I really will be annoyed," he warned.

It took a few seconds for the young man to get a better hold on himself and just as he was about to start talking, her sensei started laughing, which stole his words again.

"How many of her other partners do you think tell me about what happens between them and her?" he asked before the young man he was harassing could attempt to start his story again.

"I-I don't know," he finally managed to reply.

"None," Kakashi answered resolutely. "If I really want to know, I will ask her," he seriously informed. Once again satisfied by the look of mild panic on the young ninja's face, he chuckled. "Go home," he dismissed, and Shikamaru was off like a shot.


End file.
